The Italian Renaissance | The Counter-Reformation (Lecture 34)

Lecture 34: It was not just the foreign invasions of Italy or the loss of economic power that affected the later Italian Renaissance.
The revolt in the Church led by Martin Luther (1483−1546) from 1517 had a devastating impact. The Roman Church had seen itself as universal and confident and able to permit relative freedom of debate and belief. Only when the authority of the Church was attacked was there a strong response, as in the case of Savonarola. Luther’s revolt changed that, especially as Protestantism spread so quickly and effectively through the printed word. The Church lost millions of adherents and much revenue as a consequence, and the unity of Christian Europe was shattered forever. To combat this danger, the Church responded by tightening controls. The Roman Inquisition was established in 1542 to determine centrally what and who were orthodox or heretical.

In 1545, Paul III called a great council of the Church to meet at Trent whose purpose was to define doctrine and build discipline among Catholics; the council was to sit, with some interruptions, until 1563. As a consequence of Trent, the Index of Prohibited Books was created in 1559 to control what books were printed, read, and circulated, and the penalties for possession were severe. The claims of the reformers were also rejected and the authority of the Church and the papacy reinforced. The ultimate effect of these measures was to suppress open debate and original thinking. The principles that had stimulated the Renaissance initially were being overwhelmed by forces that demanded uniformity and obedience.

Primary Source Texts:
Ignatius Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius.

Secondary Sources:
Gigliola Fragnito, Church, Censorship and Culture in Early Modern Italy.
J. W. O’Malley, The First Jesuits.

Supplementary Reading:
Eric Cochrane, ed., The Late Italian Renaissance, 1525−1630.

Lecture 35: https://rumble.com/v4ywgy9-the-italian-renaissance-the-end-of-the-renaissance-in-italy-lecture-35.html