Council of Trent
Topic: Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Council of Trent was a great meeting of Catholic Church leaders. It met at Trent in northern Italy in three phases between 1545 and 1563. It was the Catholic Church's main answer to the Protestant Reformation. It restated Catholic beliefs, rejected Protestant teachings and corrected abuses inside the Church. It gave the Counter-Reformation clear rules.
Example
Among its reforms, the Council ordered better training of priests in seminaries (colleges for priests). It also tried to stop misuse of the sale of indulgences.
Don't confuse with
- Society of Jesus (1540): this was a religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola in Spain. The Council of Trent was a Church-wide meeting held a few years later.
Related concepts
- Christian humanism
- Thomas More
- Erasmus
- Indulgences
- Donation of Constantine
- Martin Luther
- Ninety-Five Theses
- Protestant Reformation
- John Calvin
- English Reformation