Catholic reform

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In contrast to the Reformation, the term Catholic reform denotes an independent and prior ecclesiastical reform of Roman Catholicism, especially of Spanish state and religious Catholicism (from 1478: National Council of Seville), which gained in pan-European importance not least because a "Spanish" Kaiser (from 1519: Charles V ) became the highest secular protector of the so-called "old church". He was a promoter and continuer of the Catholic reform at home and overseas, and - on a pan-European level - a leading fighter of the Reformation and main initiator of the Trento Reform Council ( Counter-Reformation ).

Long before the Reformation, under the so-called " Catholic Kings " ( Isabella I (Castile) ; Ferdinand II (Aragón) ) and Cardinal Regent Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1439–1517) many of those church grievances were remedied or pushed back, which led to the Reformation ( indulgences , residence obligation of the pastors, influence of the Pope) and were addressed in the Council of Trent (1545–63) ( Spanish Inquisition from 1478, later also in southern Italy; Roman from 1532). The reform papacy also met this endeavor to abolish gravamina within the church . Ultimately, it was also about determining the position of the papacy towards their own future, the powerful Spanish Catholicism (under Charles V and Philip II ) and the Reformation.

One of the main aims of the Catholic reform was to improve the formation of priests through the establishment of seminaries and the fight against simony and the accumulation of offices. For further information, please refer to the resolutions of the Council of Trent . The trade in indulgences was also strictly reformed, which was a major point of friction for Luther and was partly responsible for triggering the Reformation .

Concept history

The Protestant historian Wilhelm Maurenbrecher was the first to describe this internal church reform movement in his book: Geschichte der Catholic Reformation, Vol. I, Nördlingen 1880 . This does not mean that there was not a need for a reform of the ecclesiastical situation beforehand. Carl Ullmann wrote a two-volume work in 1841 with the significant title Reformers before the Reformation . The term "Catholic Reformation" was already occupied by the Lutheran Reformation, so that Maurenbrecher was forced to create a new term. The criticism of Maurenbrecher was not long in coming. He was criticized on the Protestant side by the historian Hermann Baumgarten and the theologian August Ebrard , on the Catholic side by the theologian Franz Dittrich and the church historian Alfons Bellesheim . The Catholic historian Ludwig von Pastor responded by introducing the term Catholic Restoration in his history of the papacy.

Baumgarten's criticism of Maurenbrecher was the basis for the concept of Catholic reform introduced by the church historian Hubert Jedin . This in turn introduces the triad of terms to describe the history of the Church in the 16th and 17th centuries: Reformation - Catholic Reform - Counter-Reformation . The pair of terms Reformation - Counter Reformation is expanded. Jedin's conceptual scheme is based on church history . Despite the proven untenability of Maurenbrecher's creation of the term Catholic Reformation , his realization that Reformation, Catholic Reform and finally Counter-Reformation have their common roots in the conditions of the late medieval church is undisputed.

See also

literature

  • Rolf Decot : Catholic Reform. In: Friedrich Jaeger (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Modern Times. Volume 6. Ed. On behalf of the Institute for Cultural Studies (Essen). J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-01996-7 .
  • Harm Klueting : The Denominational Age. Europe between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. Primus, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-89678-337-0 .
  • Hubert Jedin : Catholic Reformation or Counter Reformation? An attempt to clarify the terms along with an anniversary consideration of the Council of Trent. Stocker, Lucerne 1946.
  • Wilhelm Maurenbrecher : History of the Catholic Reformation. Volume 1. Beck, Nördlingen 1880 ( archive.org ).
  • Damien Tricoire: Count on God. Catholic reform and political calculation in France, Bavaria and Poland-Lithuania . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-525-31018-2 .
  • Dieter J. Weiss: Catholic Reform and Counter Reformation. An overview. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-15121-6 .

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