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TRENT, COUNCIL OF
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See also:TRENT, See also:COUNCIL OF . The Council of Trent (1545—1563) has a See also:long antecedent See also:history of See also:great significance for the fortunes of the See also:Catholic See also: True, the passive resistance of the See also:Curia was so stubborn that the decisive step was postponed See also:time and again. But the goal was finally attained, and this result was essentially the See also:work of Charles. Actually, the See also:meeting came too See also:late: the Evangelical Church had gathered strength in the See also:interim, and the council failed to exercise the decisive See also:influence anticipated on the relations between Catholicism and Protestantism. In 1536 its convocation seemed imminent. See also:Pope See also:Paul III., who in the See also:conclave had already admitted the See also:necessity of a council, convened it on the 2nd of See also:June 1536, for the 23rd of May 1537, at See also:Mantua. He then altered the date to the 1st of See also:November of the same year. Later it was summoned to meet at See also:Vicenza on the 1st of May 1538, only to be postponed till the See also:Easter of 1539. Finally, be adjourned the See also:execution of the project sine See also:die. Charles met this See also:dilatory policy by arranging colloquies between See also:Protestant and Catholic at See also:Worms and See also:Regensburg, the result being that the Curia became afraid that the emperor might take the See also:settlement of the religious question into his own hands. This See also:consideration forced Paul III. to compliance, and fresh writs were issued convoking the council, first for Whitsuntide, 1542, then for the 1st of November of the same year. In consequence, however, of the hostilities between Charles and the French See also: The See also:bull Laetare Hierusalem (November 19, 1 544) fixed the meeting of the council for the 15th of See also: More than this, the general See also:character of the second See also:period of the council was markedly distinct from that of its earlier stages. The French See also:clergy had not a single delegate, while the See also:Spanish bishops maintained an See also:independent attitude under the See also:aegis of the emperor, and Protestant deputies were on this occasion required to appear at Trent. The German Protestants who, in the first phase of the council, had held aloof from its proceedings, since to have sent representatives to this assemblage would have served no See also:good purpose, had now no choice but to obey the imperial will. Charles V. was anxious to assure them not merely of a safe conduct, but also of a certain See also:hearing. But in this he ran See also:counter to the established facts: the Catholic Church had already defined its attitude to the dogmas above mentioned, and the Curia showed no inclination to question these results by reopening the debate. Thus the participation of the Protestants was essentially superfluous, for the See also:object they had at See also:heart—the discussion of these doctrines on the gound of See also:Holy See also:Writ—was from the Catholic stand-point an impossible aspiration. The See also:Wurttemberg deputies had already submitted a creed, composed by the Swabian reformer Johann See also:Brenz, to the council, and See also:Melanchthon was under way with a confessio saxonica, when there came the revolt of the Elector See also:Maurice of See also:Saxony (March 20, 1552), which compelled the emperor to a speedy See also:flight from See also:Innsbruck, and dissolved the conclave. Its dogmatic labours were confined to doctrinal decrees on the See also:Lord's Supper (sessio xiii. See also:October 11, 1551), and on the sacraments of See also:penance and extreme See also:unction (November 25, 1551, sessio xiv.). On the 28th of See also:April 1552, the sittings were suspended on the See also:news of the elector's approach. Ten years had elapsed before the council reassembled for the third time in Trent; and on this occasion the circumstances were totally changed. During the intervening period, the religious problem in Germany had received such a solution as the times admitted by the peace of Augsburg (1555); and the equality there guaranteed between the Protestant estates and the Catholic estates had See also:left the former nothing to See also:hope from a council. Thus the motive which till then had governed the emperor's policy was now nullified, as there was no necessity for seeking a reconciliation of the two parties by means of a conference. The incitement to continue the council came from another See also:quarter. It was no longer anxiety with regard to Protestantism that exercised the pressure, but a growing conviction of the imperative need of more stringent reforms within the Catholic Church itself. Pope Paul IV. (1551–1559), the See also:protector of the See also:Inquisition, and the opponent of See also: As the voting was not to be by nations, as at Constance, but by individuals, the last word remained with the Italians, who were in the See also:majority. In See also:order to enhance this superiority the legates as a See also:rule denied the See also:suffrage to those See also:foreign bishops who desired to be represented by procurators; and a number of Italian prelates were enabled to make their See also:appearance at Trent, thanks to special allowances from the pope. The dispute as to the order of precedence among the subjects for deliberation was settled by a See also:compromise, and the questions of dogma and ecclesiastical abuses were taken simultaneously, the consequence being that in the decisions of the council the doctrinal and reformatory decrees See also:rank See also:side by side. In pursuance of a precedent established by the last Lateran Council, the sessions were divided into two classes: those devoted to discussion (congregationes generales), and those in which the results of the discussion were put to the See also:vote and formally enacted (sessiones publicae). To ensure a thorough consideration of every proposition, and also to facilitate the exercise of the papal influence on the proceedings, the delegates were split into three See also:groups (congregationes), each See also:group debating the same question at the same time. This arrangement, however, only endured till 1546. Since these sections were only brought into See also:conjunction by the legates, and met under their presidency, the pontifical envoys in effect regulated the whole course of the deliberations. They claimed, moreover, the right of determining the proposals submitted, and were throughout in active and See also:constant communication with See also:Rome—a circumstance which provoked the bon mot of the French See also:deputy (1563), that when the See also:rivers were flooded and the Roman See also:post delayed the Holy See also:Ghost postponed his descent. These precautions nullified any possible disposition on the part of the council to enter on dangerous paths; and in addition the clause " under See also:reservation of the papal authority " was affixed to all enactments dealing with ecclesiastical irregularities—thus leaving the pope a free hand with regard to the See also:practical execution of any See also:measures proposed. Contrary to the emperor's wish, the council began its labours in the region of dogma by defining the doctrines of the Church with reference to the most important controversial points—a procedure which frustrated all his projects for a reconciliation with the Protestants. On the Sth of April 1546 the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures and tradition (sessio iv.) was proclaimed; on the 17th of June 1546, the doctrine of See also:original See also:sin (sessio v.); on the 13th of See also:January 1547, the doctrine of See also:justification (sessio vi.) ; and on the 3rd of March 1547, the See also:decree concerning the sacraments in general, and See also:baptism and See also:confirmation in particular (sessio vii.). On the 11th of March, however, the council was transferred to See also:Bologna on the pretext that an epidemic was raging in Trent (sessio viii.), though, at the imperial command, part of the bishops remained behind. But on the 2nd of June the council of Bologna resolved (sessio x.) to adjourn its labours. The emperor's demands that the council should again be removed to Trent were vain, till on the 24th of April 1547, the See also:battle of See also:Muhlberg decided the struggle with the Schmalkaldic See also:league, formed by the Evangelical princes of Germany, in his favour. His hands the very countries where the Protestant heresy had been most vigorously combated—a great See also:mass of discontent had accumulated; and France already showed a strong inclination to attempt an independent settlement of her ecclesiastical difficulties in a See also:national council. Pius IV. saw himself constrained to take these circumstances into account. On the 29th of November 156o he announced the convocation of the council; and on the 18th of January 1562 it was actually reopened (sessio xvii.). The presidency was entrusted to Cardinal See also:Gonzaga, assisted by Cardinals See also:Hosius, See also:bishop of See also:Ermeland, Seripando, Simonetta, and Marc de Altemps, bishop of Constance. The Protestants indeed were also invited but the Evangelical princes, assembled in See also:Naumburg, withheld their assent—a result which was only to be expected. In order to enhance the synod's freedom of action, France and the emperor Ferdinand required that it should rank as a new council, and were able to adduce in support of their claim the fact that the resolutions of the two former periods had not yet been formally recognized. Pius IV., however, designated it a continuation of the earlier meetings. Ferdinand, in addition to regulations for the See also:amendment of the clergy and the monastic See also:system, demanded above all the legalization of the See also:marriage of the priesthood and the concession of the " lay chalice," as he feared further defections to Protestantism. France and Spain laid stress on the recognition Qf the divine right of the episcopate, and its See also:independence with regard to the pope. These episcopal tendencies were backed by a request that the bishops should reside in their See also:sees—a position which Pius IV. acknowledged to be de iure divino; though, as it would have implied the annihilation of the Roman Curia, he refused to declare it as such. In consequence of these reformatory aspirations, the position of the pope and the council was for a while full of peril. But the papal See also:diplomacy was quite competent to shatter an opposition which at no time presented an absolutely unbroken front, and by concessions, threats and the utilization of See also:political and politico-ecclesiastical dissensions, to break the force of the attack. In the third period of the council, which, as a result of these feuds, witnessed no session from See also:September 1562 to July 1563, doctrinal resolutions were also passed concerning the Lord's Supper sub utraque specie (sessio xxi., July 16, 1562), the See also:sacrifice of the Mass (sessio xxii., September 27, 1562), the See also:sacrament of ordination (sessio See also:xxiii., July 15, 1563), the sacrament of marriage (sessio See also:xxiv., November u, 1563), and See also:Purgatory, the See also:worship of See also:saints, See also:relics and images (December. 3, 1563). of independence. For the freedom of speech which had been accorded was exercised under the supervision of papal legates, who maintained a decisive influence over the proceedings and could See also:count on a certain majority in consequence of the overwhelming number of Italians. That the synod figured as the responsible author of its own decrees (sancta oecumenica et generalis tridentina synodus in spiritu sancto legitime congregata) proves very little, since the following clause reads praesidentibus apostolicae sedis legatis; while the legates and the pope expressly refused to See also:sanction an application of the words of the Council of Constance—universalem ecclesiam repraesentans. The whole course of the council was determined by the pre-supposition that it had no autonomous See also:standing, and that its labours were simply transacted under the See also:commission and guidance of the pope. This was not merely a claim put forward by the Roman see at the time: it was acknowledged by the attitude of the synod throughout. The legates confined the right of discussion to the subjects propounded by the pope, and their position was that he was in no way See also:bound by the vote of the majority. In difficult cases the synod itself left the decision to him, as in the question of clandestine marriages and the See also:administration of the Lord's Supper sub utraque specie. Further, at the See also:close of the sessions a See also:resolution was adopted, by the terms of which all the enactments of the council de morum reformations atque ecclesiastica discipline were subject to the See also:limitation that the papal authority should not be prejudiced thereby (sessio See also:xxv. cap. 21). Finally, every doubt as to the papal supremacy is removed when we consider that the Tridentine Fathers sought for all their enactments and decisions the ratification (confirmatio) of the pope, which was conferred by Pius IV. in the bull See also:Benedictus See also:Deus (January 26, 1564). Again, in its last meeting (sessio xxv.), the synod transferred to the pope a number of tasks for which their own time had proved inadequate. These comprised the compilation of a See also:catalogue of forbidden books, a See also:catechism, and an edition of the See also:missal and the See also:breviary. Thus the council presented the Holy See with a further opportunity of extending its influence and diffusing its views. The ten rules de libris prohibitis, published by Pius IV. in the bull Dominici gregis custodiae (March 24, 1564), became of great importance for the whole spiritual life of the Roman Catholic Church: for they were an attempt to exclude pernicious influences, and, in practice, led to a censorship which has been more potent for evil than good. These regulations On the 4th of December 1563 the synod closed. were modified by See also:Leo XIII. in his Constitution 0fficiorum ac The dogmatic decisions of the Council of Trent make no 1 munerum (January 24, 1897). Acting on a See also:suggestion of the attempt at embracing the whole doctrinal system of the Roman council (sessio xxiv. c. 2; sessio xxv. c. 2), Pius IV. published a Catholic Church, but See also:present a selection of the most vital short conspectus of the articles of faith, as determined at Trent, doctrines, partly chosen as a counterblast to Protestantism, and in the bull Injunctum nobis (November 13, 1564). This so-formulated throughout with a view to that creed and its objec- called Prof essio fidei tridentinae, however, goes beyond she tions. From the discussions of the council it is evident that doctrinal resolutions of the synod, as it contains a number of pronounced See also:differences of opinion existed within it even on clauses dealing with the Church and the position of the pope most important subjects, and that these differences were not within the Church—subjects which were deliberately ignored reconciled. Hence came the necessity for reticences, equivoca- in the discussions at Trent. In 1877 this confession—binding tions and temporizing formulae. Since, moreover, the council on every Roman Catholic See also:priest—was supplemented by a See also:pro-issued its pronouncements without any reference to the decisions nouncement on the dogma of papal See also:infallibility. of earlier councils, and omitted to emphasize its relation to The great and increasing need of a See also:manual for the instruction these, it in fact suppressed these earlier decisions, and posed of the See also:people gave rise in the first half of the 16th century to not as continuing, but as superseding them. numerous catechisms. At the period of the council, that com- The reformatory enactments See also:touch on numerous phases of posed by the Jesuit See also:Peter Canisius, See also:father-See also:confessor of the ecclesiastical life—administration, discipline, See also:appointment to emperor Ferdinand, enjoyed the widest See also:vogue. ' It failed, spiritual offices, the marriage law (decretum de reformatione however; to receive the sanction of the synod, which preferred matrimonii " Tametsi," sessio xxiv.), the duties of the clergy, to undertake the task itself; and, as that See also:body left its labours and so forth. The resolutions include many that marked an unfinished, the pope was entrusted with the compilation of a advance; but the opportunity for a comprehensive and thorough textbook. Pius V. appointed a commission (Leonardo See also:Marini, See also:reformation of the life of the Church—the necessity of which Egidio Foscarari, Francisco Fureiro and Murio Calini) under the was recognized in the Catholic Church itself—was not em- presidency of three cardinals, among them Charles See also:Borromeo; hraced. No alteration of the abuses which obtained in the and this commission discharged its duties with such rapidity Curia was effected, and no annulment of the customs, so lucra- that the Catechisms a decreto concilii tridentini ad parochos tive to that body and deleterious to others, was attempted. was published in Rome as See also:early as the year 1568. The See also:book is The question of the See also:annates, for instance, was not so much as designed for the use of the cleric, not the layman. The Missale broached. ronaanum, moreover, underwent revision: also the Breviarium The Council of Trent in fact enjoyed only a certain appearance romanum, the daily devotional work of the Roman priest. The necessity of still further improvements in the latter was forcibly urged in the Vatican Council. The numerical See also:representation of the Council of Trent was marked by considerable fluctuations. In the first session (December 13, 1545) the spiritual dignitaries present—omitting the 3 presiding cardinals—consisted of one other cardinal, 4 See also:arch-bishops, 21 bishops and 5 generals of orders. On the other hand, the resolutions of the synod were signed at its close by the 4 presidents, then by 2 cardinals, 3 patriarchs, 25 archbishops, 166 bishops, 7 abbots, 7 generals of orders and 19 procurators of archbishops and bishops. In this council—as later in the Vatican—See also:Italy was the dominant nation, sending two-thirds of the delegates; while Spain was responsible for about 30, France for about 20, and Germany for no more than 8 members. In spite of the paucity of its See also:numbers at the opening and the unequal representation of the Church, which continued to the last, the See also:oecumenical character of the council was never seriously questioned. On the See also:motion of the legates, the resolutions were submitted to the ambassadors of the See also:secular See also:powers for See also:signature, the French and Spanish envoys alone withholding their assent. The recognition of the council's enactments was, none the less, beset with difficulties. So far as the doctrinal decisions were concerned no obstacles existed; but the reformatory edicts—See also:adhesion to which was equally required by the synod—stood on a different footing. In their character of resolutions claiming to rank as ecclesiastical law they came into conflict with outside interests, and their See also:acceptance by no means implied that the rights of the See also:sovereign, or the needs and circumstances of the respective countries, were treated with sufficient consideration. The consequence was that there arose an active and, in some cases, a tenacious opposition to an indiscriminate acquiescence in all the Tridentine decrees. See also:tinder Charles IX. and See also: Still it was published at provincial and diocesan synods in the territories of the spiritual princes, and also in the See also:Austrian hereditary states.
In his See also:official confirmation Pius IV. had already strictly prohibited any commentary on the enactments of the council unless undertaken with his approval, and had claimed for him-self the See also:sole right of See also:interpretation. In order to supervise the practical working of these enactments, Pius created (1564) a special See also:department of the Curia, the Congregatio cardinalium coruilii tridentini interpretum; and to this body See also:Sixtus V. en-trusted the further task of determining the sense of the conciliar decisions in all dubious cases. The resolutiones of the See also:congregation—on disputed points—and their declaraliones—on legal questions—exercised a powerful influence on the subsequent development of ecclesiastical law.
The Council of Trent attained a quite extraordinary significance for the Roman Catholic Church; and its pre-See also:eminence was unassailed till the Vaticanum subordinated all the labours of the Church in the past—whether in the region of doctrine or in that of law--to an infallible pope. On the theological side it fixed the results of See also:medieval See also:scholasticism and gleaned from it all that could be of service to the Church. Further, by pronouncing on a See also:series of doctrinal points till then undecided it elaborated the Catholic creed; and, finally, the bold front which it offered to Protestantism in its presentation of the orthodox faith gave to its members the practical See also:lead they so much needed in their resistance to the Evangelical See also:assault. The regulations dealing with ecclesiastical life, in the widest sense of the words, came, for the most part, to actual fruition, so that, in this direction also, the council had not laboured in vain. For the whole
Roman Catholic Church of the 16th century its consequences are of an importance which can scarcely be exaggerated: it showed that Church as a living institution, capable of work and achievement; it strengthened the confidence both of her members and herself, and it was a powerful See also:factor in heightening her efficiency as a competitor with Protestantism and in restoring and reinforcing her imperilled unity. Indeed, its See also:sphere of influence was still more extensive, for its labours in the See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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