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{{Short description|Catholic Church ecumenical council 1545–1563}}

{{Infobox Ecumenical council
| council_name = Council of Trent
| council_date = 13 December 1545 – {{nowrap|4 December 1563}}
| image = Concilio Trento Museo Buonconsiglio.jpg
| caption = Council of Trent, painting in the Museo del Palazzo del Buonconsiglio, Trento
| accepted_by = [[Catholic Church]]
| previous = [[Fifth Council of the Lateran]]
| next = [[First Vatican Council]]
| convoked_by = [[Pope Paul III]]
| presided_by = {{ubl|Pope Paul III|[[Pope Julius III]]|[[Pope Pius IV]]}}
| attendance = About 255 during the final&nbsp;sessions
| topics = [[Protestantism]], [[Counter-Reformation]]
| documents = Seventeen dogmatic decrees covering then-disputed aspects of Catholic religion
}}
{{Catholic Counter-Reformation|expanded=documents}}
{{Ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church}}

The '''Council of Trent''' ({{langx|la|Concilium Tridentinum}}), held between 1545 and 1563 in [[Trento|Trent]] (or Trento), now in northern [[Italian Peninsula|Italy]], was the 19th [[Catholic ecumenical councils|ecumenical council]] of the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>Joseph Francis Kelly, ''The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History'', (Liturgical Press, 2009), 126–148.</ref><ref>This would be the last time that an ecumenical council would be held outside of [[Rome]] and in the territory of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].</ref> Prompted by the [[Protestant Reformation]] at the time, it has been described as the "most impressive embodiment of the ideals of the [[Counter-Reformation]]."<ref name="ODCC">"Trent, Council of" in Cross, F. L. (ed.) ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', Oxford University Press, 2005 ({{ISBN|978-0-19-280290-3}}).</ref> It was the last time a Catholic ecumenical council was organized outside the city of [[Rome]], & the second time to be convened in the territory of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (the first being the [[Council of Constance]]). 

The Council issued key statements and clarifications of the Church's doctrine and teachings, including [[scripture]], the [[biblical canon]], [[sacred tradition]], [[original sin]], [[Justification (theology)|justification]], [[salvation]], the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]], the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]], and the [[Veneration|veneration of saints]]<ref name="World History">Wetterau, Bruce. ''World History''. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994.</ref> and also issued condemnations of what it defined to be [[Heresy|heresies]] committed by proponents of [[Protestantism]]. The consequences of the council were also significant with regard to the [[Catholic liturgy|Church's liturgy]] and censorship.

The Council met for twenty-five sessions between 13 December 1545 and 4 December 1563.<ref>Hubert Jedin, ''Konciliengeschichte'', [[Verlag Herder]], Freiburg, [p.?]&nbsp;138.</ref> [[Pope Paul III]], who [[convoked]] the council, oversaw the first eight sessions (1545–1547), while the twelfth to sixteenth sessions (1551–52) were overseen by [[Pope Julius III]] and the seventeenth to twenty-fifth sessions (1562–63) by [[Pope Pius IV]]. More than three hundred years passed until the next ecumenical council, the [[First Vatican Council]], was convened in 1869.

== Background information ==

=== Obstacles and events before the Council's problem area ===
[[File:Portrait of Pope Paul III Farnese (by Titian) - National Museum of Capodimonte.jpg|thumb|Pope Paul III, convener of the Council of Trent, portrait by [[Titian]] (1543)]]
On 15 March 1517, the [[Fifth Council of the Lateran]] closed its activities with a number of reform proposals (on the selection of bishops, taxation, censorship and preaching) but not on the new major problems that confronted the Church in Germany and other parts of Europe. A few months later, on 31 October 1517, [[Martin Luther]] issued his ''[[Ninety-five Theses|95 Theses]]'' in [[Wittenberg]].

=== A general, free council in Germany ===
Luther's position on ecumenical councils shifted over time,<ref>{{citation | first = Hubert | last = Jedin | title = Konziliengeschichte | publisher = Herder | year = 1959 | page = 80}}</ref> but in 1520 he appealed to the German princes to oppose the papal Church at the time, if necessary with a council in Germany,<ref>{{citation | title = An den Adel deutscher Nation | year = 1520 | language = de}}</ref> open and free of the Papacy. After the Pope condemned in ''[[Exsurge Domine]]'' fifty-two of Luther's theses as [[heresy]], German opinion considered a council the best method to reconcile existing differences. German Catholics, diminished in number, hoped for a council to clarify matters.<ref name="Jedin 81">Jedin 81</ref>

It took a generation for the council to materialise, partly due to papal fears over potentially renewing a schism over [[conciliarism]]; partly because Lutherans demanded the exclusion of the papacy from the council; partly because of ongoing political rivalries between France and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]; and partly due to the Turkish dangers in the Mediterranean.<ref name="Jedin 81" /><ref name="treccani">{{cite web |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/clemente-vii_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/ |title=Clemente VII |website=Treccani.it |language=it |access-date=12 July 2021 |quote=Ma l'ostilità del papa alla convocazione di un concilio era grandissima e già allora ben conosciuta, tanto che l'ambasciatore di Carlo V, il duca di Sessa, non ebbe il coraggio di affrontare direttamente l'argomento. Concorrevano ad alimentare tale ostilità da un lato le ombre ancora vicine del conciliarismo e l'esperienza del contrasto coi "gallicani", dall'altro il timore che il concilio potesse trovare nella sua nascita illegittima un buon pretesto per deporlo (ancora durante il conclave di Adriano VI, Soderini lo aveva trattato pubblicamente da bastardo).}}</ref> Under [[Pope Clement VII]] (1523–34), mutinous troops many of whom were [[Lutheran]] belonging to the Catholic [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] [[Sack of Rome (1527)|sacked Papal Rome]] in 1527, "raping, killing, burning, stealing, the like had not been seen since the [[Vandals]]". [[Saint Peter's Basilica]] and the [[Sistine Chapel]] were used for horses.<ref>Hans Kühner Papstgeschichte, Fischer, Frankfurt 1960, 118</ref> Pope Clement, fearful of the potential for more violence, delayed calling the council.<ref name="treccani"/>

[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] strongly favoured a council but needed the support of [[Francis I of France|King Francis I]] of France, who attacked him militarily. Francis I generally opposed a general council due to partial support of the Protestant cause within France. Charles' younger brother [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand of Austria]], who ruled a huge swath of territory in central Europe, agreed in 1532 to the [[Schmalkaldic League#Nuremberg Religious Peace|Nuremberg Religious Peace]] granting religious liberty to the Protestants, and in 1533 he further complicated matters when suggesting a general council to include both Catholic and Protestant rulers of Europe that would devise a compromise between the two theological systems. This proposal met the opposition of the Pope for it gave recognition to Protestants and also elevated the secular Princes of Europe above the clergy on church matters. Faced with a Turkish attack, Charles held the support of the Protestant German rulers, all of whom delayed the opening of the Council of Trent.<ref>Jedin 79–82</ref>

== Occasion, sessions, and attendance ==
[[File:Council of Trent by Pasquale Cati.jpg|thumb|upright=1.64|''The Council of Trent'', depicted by [[Pasquale Cati]] in 1588 (Cati da Iesi)]]

In the to-and-fro of [[Conciliarism|medieval politics]], [[Pope Pius II]], in his [[Papal bull|bull]] ''[[Execrabilis]]'' (1460) and his reply to the [[University of Cologne]] (1463), had set aside the theory of the supremacy of general councils laid down by the [[Council of Constance]],<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> which had also called for [[Frequens|frequent ecumenical councils]] every ten years to cope with the backlog of reform and heresies.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brookes |first1=Andrew |title= Councils of Faith: Constance (1414–18) |url=https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/councils-of-faith-constance-1414-18/ |website=The Dominican Friars in Britain |date=15 June 2013}}</ref>

[[Martin Luther]] had appealed for a general council, in response to the [[Papal bull]] ''[[Exsurge Domine]]'' of [[Pope Leo X]] (1520). In 1522 German [[diet (assembly)|diets]] joined in the appeal, with [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] seconding and pressing for a council as a means of reunifying the Church and settling the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] controversies. [[Pope Clement VII]] (1523–34) was vehemently against the idea of a council, agreeing with [[Francis I of France]].

=== Sessions ===
The history of the council is divided into three distinct periods: 1545–1549, 1551–1552 and 1562–1563.

The number of attending members in the three periods varied considerably.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> The council was small to begin with, opening with only about 30 bishops.<ref name="O'Malley, 29">O'Malley, 29</ref> It increased toward the close, but never reached the number of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (which had 318 members)<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> nor of the [[First Vatican Council]] (which numbered 744). The decrees were signed in 1563 by 255 members, the highest attendance of the whole council,<ref name="O'Malley, 29" /> including four papal legates, two cardinals, three patriarchs, twenty-five archbishops, and 168 bishops, two-thirds of whom were Italians. The Italian and Spanish prelates were vastly preponderant in power and numbers. At the passage of the most important decrees, not more than sixty prelates were present.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> Although most Protestants did not attend, ambassadors and theologians of Brandenburg, Württemberg, and Strasbourg attended having been granted an improved [[safe conduct]].<ref>Erwin L. Lueker, Luther Poellot, Paul Jackson eds. [http://cyclopedia.lcms.org/display.asp?t1=t&word=TRENT.COUNCILOF Trent, Council of] Christian Cyclopedia, Concordia Publishing House: 2000</ref>

==== Pre-council ====
[[Pope Paul III]] (1534–1549), seeing that the [[Protestant Reformation]] was no longer confined to a few preachers, but had won over various princes, especially in Germany, to its ideas, desired a council. Yet when he proposed the idea to his [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]], it was almost unanimously opposed. Nonetheless, he sent [[nuncio]]s throughout Europe to propose the idea. Paul III issued a decree for a general council to be held in [[Mantua]], Italy, to begin on 23 May 1537.<ref>Joseph Francis Kelly, ''The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History'', 133.</ref> Martin Luther wrote the [[Smalcald Articles]] in preparation for the general council. The Smalcald Articles were designed to sharply define where the Lutherans could and could not compromise. The council was ordered by the Emperor and Pope Paul III to convene in Mantua on 23 May 1537.

It failed to convene after another war broke out between France and Charles V, resulting in a non-attendance of French [[prelate]]s. Protestants refused to attend as well. Financial difficulties in Mantua led the Pope in the autumn of 1537 to move the council to [[Vicenza]], where participation was poor. The council was postponed indefinitely on 21 May 1539.

Pope Paul III then initiated several internal Church reforms while Emperor Charles V convened with Protestants and Cardinal [[Gasparo Contarini]] at the [[Diet of Regensburg (1541)|Diet of Regensburg]], to reconcile differences. Mediating and conciliatory formulations were developed on certain topics. In particular, a two-part doctrine of ''[[Justification (theology)|justification]]'' was formulated that would later be rejected at Trent.<ref>[https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/catholic-or-protestant-the-story-of-contarini-and-the-reformation/ Catholic OR Protestant? The Story of Contarini and the Reformation], fn. 7.</ref> Unity failed between Catholic and Protestant representatives "because of different concepts of ''Church'' and ''Justification''".<ref>Jedin 85</ref>

==== First period ====

However, the council was delayed until 1545 and, as it happened, convened right before Luther's death. Unable, however, to resist the urging of Charles V, the pope, after proposing Mantua as the place of meeting, convened the council at Trent (at that time ruled by a prince-bishop under the [[Holy Roman Empire]]),<ref name= Schaff-Herzog/> on 13 December 1545; the Pope's decision to transfer it to [[Bologna]] in March 1547 on the pretext of avoiding a plague<ref name= "ODCC"/> failed to take effect and the council was indefinitely prorogued on 17 September 1549. None of the three popes reigning over the duration of the council ever attended, which had been a condition of Charles V. [[Papal legate]]s were appointed to represent the Papacy.<ref>O'Malley, 29–30</ref>

==== Second period ====

Reopened at Trent on 1 May 1551 by the convocation of [[Pope Julius III]] (1550–1555), it was broken up by the sudden victory of [[Maurice, Elector of Saxony]] over Emperor Charles V and his march into surrounding state of [[German Tyrol|Tirol]] on 28 April 1552.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc12/htm/ii.ii.htm |title=Council of Trent|author=Trenkle, Franz Sales|date=3 March 2003|access-date=22 January 2008}}</ref> There was no hope of reassembling the council while the very [[Anti-Protestantism|anti-Protestant]] [[Paul IV]] was Pope.<ref name="ODCC" />

During the second period, the Protestants present asked for a renewed discussion on points already defined and for bishops to be released from their oaths of allegiance to the Pope. When the last period began, all intentions of conciliating the Protestants was gone and the [[Jesuits]] had become a strong force.<ref name="ODCC" /> This last period was begun especially as an attempt to prevent the formation of a [[Francis II of France#Conciliation policy|general council including Protestant]]s, as had been demanded by some in France.

==== Third period ====

The council was reconvened by [[Pope Pius IV]] (1559–1565) for the last time, meeting from 18 January 1562 at [[Santa Maria Maggiore, Trento|Santa Maria Maggiore]], and continued until its final adjournment on 4 December 1563. It closed with a series of ritual acclamations honouring the reigning Pope, the Popes who had convoked the council, the emperor and the kings who had supported it, the papal legates, the cardinals, the ambassadors present, and the bishops, followed by acclamations of acceptance of the faith of the council and its decrees, and of anathema for all heretics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct25.html|title=CT25 |website= History Hanover}}</ref>

The French monarchy boycotted the entire council until the last minute when a delegation led by [[Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine|Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine]] finally arrived in November 1562. The first outbreak of the [[French Wars of Religion#The "first" war (1562–1563)|French Wars of Religion]] had occurred earlier in the year and the French Church, facing a significant and powerful Protestant minority in France, experienced [[iconoclasm]] violence regarding the use of sacred images.  Such concerns were not primary in the Italian and Spanish Churches.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lindberg |first=Carter |title=The European Reformations, 3rd Edition |date= |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |year= |isbn=9781119640745 |edition=3rd |location= |publication-date= |pages=27 |language=English}}</ref> The last-minute inclusion of a decree on sacred images was a French initiative, and the text, never discussed on the floor of the council or referred to council theologians, was based on a French draft.<ref>O'Malley, 32–36</ref>

== Objectives and overall results ==
{{canon law}}

The main objectives of the council were twofold:

#To condemn the principles and doctrines of [[Protestantism]] and to clarify the doctrines of the Catholic Church on all disputed points. This had not been done formally since the 1530 ''[[Confutatio Augustana]]''. It is true that the emperor intended it to be a strictly general or truly ecumenical council, at which the Protestants should have a fair hearing. He secured, during the council's second period, 1551–1553, an invitation, twice given, to the Protestants to be present and the council issued a letter of safe conduct (thirteenth session) and offered them the right of discussion, but denied them a vote. [[Melanchthon]] and [[Johannes Brenz]], with some other German Lutherans, actually started in 1552 on the journey to Trent. Brenz offered a confession and Melanchthon, who got no farther than [[Nuremberg]], took with him the ''Confessio Saxonica''. But the refusal to give the Protestants the vote and the consternation produced by the success of [[Maurice, Elector of Saxony|Maurice]] in his campaign against Charles V in 1552 effectually put an end to Protestant cooperation.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>
#To effect a reformation in [[Canon law of the Catholic Church|discipline or administration]]. This object had been one of the causes calling forth the reformatory councils and had been lightly touched upon by the [[Fifth Council of the Lateran]] under [[Pope Julius II]]. The obvious corruption in the administration of the Church was one of the numerous causes of the Reformation. Twenty-five public sessions were held, but nearly half of them were spent in solemn formalities. The chief work was done in committees or congregations. The entire management was in the hands of the papal legate. The liberal elements lost out in the debates and voting. The council abolished some of the most notorious abuses and introduced or recommended disciplinary reforms affecting the sale of [[indulgence]]s, the morals of convents, the education of the clergy, the non-residence of bishops (also bishops having plurality of [[benefice]]s, which was fairly common), and the careless [[wikt:fulmination|fulmination]] of [[censure]]s, and forbade duelling. Although evangelical sentiments were uttered by some of the members in favour of the supreme authority of the Scriptures and justification by faith, no concession whatsoever was made to Protestantism, according to a Protestant source.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

Specific issues that were discussed included:

* The Church as the ultimate interpreter of Scripture.<ref name="CCC 85">Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 85</ref> Also, the Bible and [[Sacred tradition|church tradition]] (the tradition that composed part of the Catholic faith) were equally and independently authoritative.
* The relationship of faith and [[Good works|works]] in salvation was defined, following controversy over [[Martin Luther]]'s doctrine of "[[Sola fide|justification by faith alone]]".
* Other Catholic practices that had drawn the ire of reformers within the Church, such as [[indulgences]], pilgrimages, the veneration of [[saint]]s and [[relics]], and the veneration of the [[Virgin Mary]] were strongly reaffirmed, though abuses of them were forbidden. Decrees concerning [[Counter-Reformation#Church music|sacred music]] and religious art, [[Catholic Church art#Council of Trent|though inexplicit, were subsequently amplified]] by theologians and writers to condemn many types of Renaissance and medieval styles and [[iconography|iconographies]], impacting heavily on the development of these art forms.

The doctrinal decisions of the council were set forth in  decrees (''decreta''), which are divided into chapters (''capita''), which contain the positive statement of the conciliar [[dogma]]s, and into short canons (''canones''), which condemn incorrect views (often a Protestant-associated notion stated in an extreme form) with the concluding ''anathema sit'' ("let him be [[anathema]]" i.e., excluded from the society of the faithful).<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

The consequences of the council were also significant with regard to the [[Catholic liturgy|Church's liturgy]] and practices. In its decrees, the council made the Latin [[Vulgate]] the official biblical text of the Roman Church (without prejudice to the original texts in Hebrew and Greek, nor to other traditional translations of the Church, but favoring the Latin language over vernacular translations, such as the controversial English-language [[Tyndale Bible]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lindberg |first=Carter |title=The European Reformations |date=March 15, 2021 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1119640813 |edition=3rd |pages=305 |language=English}}</ref> In doing so, they commissioned the creation of a revised and standardized Vulgate in light of textual criticism, although this was not achieved until the 1590s. The council also officially affirmed the traditional Catholic Canon of biblical books, which was identical to the canon of Scripture issued by the [[Council of Rome]] under Pope Damasus in 382.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001/acref-9780192802903|title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church|date=2005-01-01|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280290-3|editor-last=Cross|editor-first=F. L.|edition=3|pages=282|language=en|chapter=canon of Scripture|doi=10.1093/acref/9780192802903.001.0001|editor-last2=Livingstone|editor-first2=E. A.}}</ref> This was in response to the increasing Protestant exclusion of the [[deuterocanonical books]].<ref name="ODCC" /> The former [[dogma]]tic affirmation of the Canonical books was at the [[Council of Florence]] in the 1441 bull ''Cantate Domino'', as affirmed by Pope Leo XIII in his 1893 encyclical ''[[Providentissimus Deus]]'' (#20). In 1565, a year after the Council finished its work, Pius IV issued the Tridentine Creed (after ''Tridentum'', Trent's Latin name) and his successor [[Pope Pius V|Pius V]] then issued the [[Roman Catechism]] and revisions of the [[Roman Breviary|Breviary]] and [[Roman Missal|Missal]] in, respectively, 1566, 1568 and 1570. These, in turn, led to the codification of the [[Tridentine Mass]], which remained the Church's primary form of the Mass for the next four hundred years.

== Decrees ==
[[File:WAF_im_Landesmuseum_Zürich_64.jpg|thumb|]]

The doctrinal acts are as follows:

After reaffirming the [[Nicene Creed|Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed]] (third session), the [[Canon of Trent|decree]] was passed (fourth session) confirming that the [[deuterocanonical books]] were on a par with the other books of the [[biblical canon|canon]] (against Luther's placement of these books in the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]] of [[Luther Bible|his edition]]) and coordinating church tradition with the Scriptures as a rule of faith. The [[Vulgate]] translation was affirmed to be authoritative for the text of Scripture.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

[[Justification (theology)|Justification]] (sixth session) was declared to be offered upon the basis of human cooperation with divine grace<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> ([[synergism]]) as opposed to the typical Protestant doctrine of [[Irresistible grace|passive reception of grace]] ([[monergism]]). Understanding the Protestant "[[Sola fide|faith alone]]" doctrine to be one of simple human confidence in [[Divine Mercy]], the Council rejected the "[[Preservation of the saints|vain confidence]]" of the Protestants, stating that no one can know infallibly who has received the grace of final perseverance apart from receiving a special revelation.  Furthermore, the Council affirmed—against some Protestants—that the grace of God can be forfeited through [[mortal sin]].

The greatest weight in the council's decrees is given to the [[sacrament]]s. The seven sacraments were reaffirmed and the [[Eucharist]] pronounced to be a true propitiatory sacrifice as well as a sacrament, in which the bread and wine were [[consecration|consecrated]] into the Eucharist (thirteenth and twenty-second sessions). The term [[transubstantiation]] was used by the council, but the specific [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] explanation given by [[Scholasticism]] was not cited as dogmatic. Instead, the decree states that [[Jesus|Christ]] is "really, truly, substantially present" in the consecrated forms. The sacrifice of the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] was to be offered for dead and living alike and in giving to the apostles the command "do this in remembrance of me," Christ conferred upon them a [[sacerdotal]] power. The practice of withholding the cup from the laity was confirmed (twenty-first session) as one which the [[Church Fathers]] had commanded for good and sufficient reasons; yet in certain cases the Pope was made the supreme arbiter as to whether the rule should be strictly maintained.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

[[Holy Orders|Ordination]] (twenty-third session) was defined to imprint an [[sacramental character|indelible character]] on the soul. The priesthood of the New Testament takes the place of the Levitical priesthood. To the performance of its functions, the consent of the people is not necessary.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

In the decrees on marriage (twenty-fourth session) the excellence of the [[celibacy|celibate]] state was reaffirmed, concubinage condemned and the validity of marriage made dependent upon the wedding taking place before a priest and two witnesses, although the lack of a requirement for parental consent ended a debate that had proceeded from the 12th century. In the case of a [[divorce]], the right of the innocent party to marry again was denied so long as the other party was alive,<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> even if the other party had committed adultery. However the council "refused … to assert the necessity or usefulness of [[Clerical celibacy (Catholic Church)|clerical celibacy]]".<ref name="O'Malley, 31"/>{{dubious|date=February 2019}}

In the twenty-fifth and last session,<ref>Council of Trent: Decree ''De invocatione, veneratione et reliquiis sanctorum, et de sacris imaginibus'', 3 December 1563, Sessio 25.</ref> the doctrines of [[purgatory]], the invocation of [[saint]]s and the veneration of [[relic]]s were reaffirmed, as was also the efficacy of indulgences as dispensed by the Church according to the power given her, but with some cautionary recommendations,<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> and a ban on the sale of indulgences. Short and rather inexplicit passages concerning religious images, were to have [[The Reformation and art#Council of Trent|great impact]] on the development of [[Catholic Church art]]. Much more than the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] (787), the Council fathers of Trent stressed the pedagogical purpose of Christian images.<ref>Bühren 2008, p. 635f.; about the historical context of the decree on sacred images cf. Jedin 1935.</ref>

Baroque Art is in part a consequence of the Council of Trent more specifically its twenty-fifth session where it emphasized that sacred art should educate the faithful, inspire devotion, and accurately represent biblical narratives. All this led to a renewed focus on emotional engagement and clarity in religious paintings. Due to these new directives, the Catholic Church began to promote baroque art characterized by dramatic compositions, chiaroscuro, and theatrical gestures. The churches adoption of the art style would help to increase its spread of influence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1 {{!}} Music In The Baroque Era {{!}} Social and Cultural Influences |url=https://fraryguitar.com/history_frary73/Baroque01.htm#:~:text=The%20Council%20of%20Trent%20(1545,Catholic%20Church,%20hastening%20it's%20spread |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=fraryguitar.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Biblical Narratives in the Baroque {{!}} Collections Online |url=https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/features/european-american/biblical-narratives-baroque-art.php#:~:text=The%20council%20affirmed%20that%20art,and%20Catholic%20art%20in%20Italy |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=artmuseum.indiana.edu |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Practical ===
On the language of the Mass, "contrary to what is often said", the council condemned the insistence that only vernacular languages must be used, while affirming on the use of Latin for the [[Roman rite]].<ref name="O'Malley, 31">O'Malley, 31</ref> However, elements of the [[Pre-Tridentine Mass#Vernacular and laity in the medieval and Reformation eras|Prône]], the vernacular [[Catholic catechesis|catechetical]] preaching service common in the medieval High Mass (and some extra-liturgical situations)<ref>{{cite web |title=Prône {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/prone |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>  became mandatory for Sundays and feast days (fifth session, chapter 2).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lualdi |first1=Katharine J. |title=Persevering in the Faith: Catholic Worship and Communal Identity in the Wake of the Edict of Nantes |journal=The Sixteenth Century Journal |date=2004 |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=717–734 |doi=10.2307/20477042 |jstor=20477042 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20477042 |issn=0361-0160|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|728}}

The council appointed, in 1562 (eighteenth session), a commission to prepare a list of forbidden books (''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]''), but it later left the matter to the Pope. The preparation of a [[Roman Catechism|catechism]] and the revision of the [[Roman Breviary|Breviary]] and [[Missal]] were also left to the pope.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/> The catechism embodied the council's far-reaching results, including reforms and definitions of the sacraments, the Scriptures, church dogma, and duties of the clergy.<ref name="World History" />

===Ratification and promulgation===
On adjourning, the Council asked the supreme pontiff to ratify all its decrees and definitions. This petition was complied with by [[Pope Pius IV]], on 26 January 1564, in the [[papal bull]], ''[[Benedictus Deus (Pius IV)|Benedictus Deus]]'', which enjoins strict obedience upon all Catholics and forbids, under pain of [[ex-communication]], all unauthorised interpretation, reserving this to the Pope alone and threatens the disobedient with "the indignation of Almighty God and of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul." Pope Pius appointed a commission of cardinals to assist him in interpreting and enforcing the decrees.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

The ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' was announced in 1564 and the following books were issued with the papal [[imprimatur]]: the Profession of the Tridentine Faith and the [[Roman Catechism|Tridentine Catechism]] (1566), the Breviary (1568), the Missal (1570) and the [[Vulgate]] (1590 and then 1592).<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

The decrees of the council were acknowledged in Italy, Portugal, Poland and by the Catholic princes of Germany at the [[Diet of Augsburg]] in 1566. [[Philip II of Spain]] accepted them for Spain, the Netherlands and Sicily inasmuch as they did not infringe the royal prerogative. In France, they were officially recognised by the king only in their doctrinal parts. Although the disciplinary or moral reformatory decrees were never published by the throne, they received official recognition at provincial synods and were enforced by the bishops. Holy Roman Emperors [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]] and [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II]] never recognized the existence of any of the decrees.<ref name="Meyer">{{cite book |last=Meyer |first=Herbert T. |date=1962 |title=The Story of the Council of Trent|location=St. Louis |publisher=Concordia Publishing House |pages=19–20}}</ref> No attempt was made to introduce it into England. Pius IV sent the decrees to [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], with a letter dated 13 June 1564, requesting that she publish them in Scotland, but she dared not do it in the face of [[John Knox]] and the Reformation.<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

These decrees were later supplemented by the [[First Vatican Council]] of 1870.

== Publication of documents ==
A comprehensive history is found in [[Hubert Jedin]]'s ''The History of the Council of Trent (Geschichte des Konzils von Trient)'' with about 2,500 pages in four volumes: ''The History of the Council of Trent: The fight for a Council'' (Vol I, 1951); ''The History of the Council of Trent: The first Sessions in Trent (1545–1547)'' (Vol II, 1957); ''The History of the Council of Trent: Sessions in Bologna 1547–1548 and Trento 1551–1552'' (Vol III, 1970, 1998); ''The History of the Council of Trent: Third Period and Conclusion'' (Vol IV, 1976).

The canons and decrees of the council have been published very often and in many languages. The first issue was by [[Paulus Manutius]] (Rome, 1564). Commonly used Latin editions are by Judocus Le Plat (Antwerp, 1779) and by [[Johann Friedrich von Schulte]] and [[Aemilius Ludwig Richter]] (Leipzig, 1853). Other editions are in vol. vii. of the ''Acta et decreta conciliorum recentiorum. Collectio Lacensis'' (7 vols., Freiburg, 1870–90), reissued as independent volume (1892); ''Concilium Tridentinum: Diariorum, actorum, epistularum, … collectio'', ed. Sebastianus Merkle (4 vols., Freiburg, 1901 sqq.); as well as [[Giovanni Domenico Mansi|Mansi]], ''Concilia'', xxxv. 345 sqq. Note also [[Carl Mirbt]], ''Quellen'', 2d ed, pp.&nbsp;202–255. An English edition is by [[James Waterworth]] (London, 1848; ''With Essays on the External and Internal History of the Council'').<ref name="Schaff-Herzog" />

The original acts and debates of the council, as prepared by its general secretary, Bishop [[Angelo Massarelli]], in six large folio volumes, are deposited in the [[Vatican Library]] and remained there unpublished for more than 300 years and were brought to light, though only in part, by [[Augustin Theiner]], priest of the oratory (d. 1874), in ''Acta genuina sancti et oecumenici Concilii Tridentini nunc primum integre edita'' (2 vols., Leipzig, 1874).<ref name=Schaff-Herzog/>

Most of the official documents and private reports, however, which bear upon the council, were made known in the 16th century and since. The most complete collection of them is that of J. Le Plat, ''Monumentorum ad historicam Concilii Tridentini collectio'' (7 vols., Leuven, 1781–87). New materials (Vienna, 1872); by [[Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger|JJI von Döllinger]] (''Ungedruckte Berichte und Tagebücher zur Geschichte des Concilii von Trient'', 2 parts, Nördlingen, 1876); and [[August von Druffel]], ''Monumenta Tridentina'' (Munich, 1884–97).<ref name="Schaff-Herzog">{{Schaff-Herzog|title=Trent, Council of|url=http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc12/htm/ii.ii.htm|inline=1}}</ref>

== List of doctrinal decrees ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Decree<th>Session</th>!! Date              !! Canons !! Chapters </tr>
| [[Bible|The Holy Scriptures]] || 4 || 8 April 1546 || none ||  1   </tr>
| [[Original sin]]   ||  5 ||       7 June 1546 ||    5   ||     4   </tr>
| [[Justification (theology)|Justification]] || 6 || 13 January 1547 || 33 || 16 </tr>
| [[Sacrament]]s     ||  7 ||      3 March 1547 ||   13   ||     1   </tr>
| [[Baptism]]        ||  7 ||      3 March 1547 ||   14   ||   none  </tr>
| [[Confirmation]]   ||  7 ||      4 March 1547 ||    3   ||   none  </tr>
| [[Holy Eucharist]] || 13 ||   11 October 1551 ||   11   ||     8   </tr>
| [[Penance]]        || 14 ||  15 November 1551 ||   15   ||    15   </tr>
| [[Anointing of the Sick (Catholic Church)|Extreme Unction]] || 14 || 4 November 1551 || 4 || 3 </tr>
| [[Matrimony]]      || 24 ||  11 November 1563 ||   12   ||    10   </tr>
| {{hlist |[[Cult (religion)|Cults]] |[[Saint]]s |[[Relic]]s |[[Counter-Reformation#Decrees on art|Images]]}} || 25 || 4 December 1563 || none || 3 </tr>
| [[Indulgence]]s    || 25 ||   4 December 1563 ||  none  ||     1   </tr>
|}

==Protestant response==
[[File:Vera effigies D. Didaci Payua d'Andrade (1603) - Pieter Perret (cropped).png|thumb|Andrada, a Catholic]]
[[File:Chemnitz,_Martin_(1522-1586).jpg|thumb|Chemnitz, a Lutheran]]
Out of 87 books written between 1546 and 1564 attacking the Council of Trent, 41 were written by [[Pier Paolo Vergerio]], a former papal nuncio turned Protestant Reformer.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1hK5CgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Eighty-seven+works+were+written+between+1546%22&pg=PA56 Lutheran Patristic Catholicity] By Quentin D. Stewart, 2015</ref> The 1565–73 ''Examen decretorum Concilii Tridentini''<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=M9RTAAAAcAAJ&q=editions:WavRe78tBJ8C Examen]'', Volumes I–II: Volume I begins on p. 46 of the pdf and Volume II begins on p. 311. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UtRTAAAAcAAJ&q=editions:WavRe78tBJ8C Examen]'' Volumes III–IV: Volume III begins on p. 13 of the pdf and Volume IV begins on p. 298. All volumes free on Google Books</ref> (''[[Examination of the Council of Trent]]'') by [[Martin Chemnitz]] was the main Lutheran response to the Council of Trent.<ref>"This monumental work is to this day the classic Protestant answer to Trent." from page three of [http://www.wlsessays.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/4095/PreusChemnitz.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Martin Chemnitz on the Doctrine of Justification] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401130509/http://www.wlsessays.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/4095/PreusChemnitz.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |date=2017-04-01 }} by Jacob A. O. Preus</ref> Making extensive use of scripture and patristic sources, it was presented in response to a polemical writing which [[Diogo de Payva de Andrada]] had directed against Chemnitz.<ref>Arthur Carl Piepkorn, 1966 [http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/PiepkornGenesisGeniusExamen.pdf Martin Chemnitz's views on Trent: the genesis and the genius of the Examen Concilii Tridentini].</ref> The ''Examen'' had four parts: Volume I examined sacred scripture,<ref>Fred Kramer, [http://www.ctsfw.net/media/pdfs/chemnitzauthorityscripture.pdf Chemnitz on The Authority of The Sacred Scripture (An Examination)] pp. 165–75</ref> free will, original sin, justification, and good works. Volume II examined the sacraments,<ref>Charles Henrickson, 2000 [http://issuesetc.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/CHEMNITZ-ON-RITES-AND-CEREMONIES-CONFESSIONAL-PRINCIPLE-CONFESSIONAL-PRACTICE.pdf Chemnitz on Rites and Ceremonies] {{Webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190120144257/http://issuesetc.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/CHEMNITZ-ON-RITES-AND-CEREMONIES-CONFESSIONAL-PRINCIPLE-CONFESSIONAL-PRACTICE.pdf |date= 2019-01-20}}.</ref> including baptism, confirmation, the sacrament of the Eucharist,<ref>Roland F. Ziegler [https://ctsfwmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/CTQ/CTQ%2067-2.pdf Should Lutherans Reserve the Consecrated Elements for the Communion of the Sick?], pp. 141ff.</ref> communion under both kinds, the Mass, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. Volume III examined virginity, celibacy, purgatory, and the invocation of saints.<ref>Quentin D. Stewart,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=1hK5CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 Lutheran Patristic Catholicity The Vincentian Canon and the Consensus Patrum in Lutheran Orthodoxy] Series: Arbeiten zur Historischen und Systematischen Theologie, p. 82.</ref> Volume IV examined the relics of the saints, images, indulgences, fasting, the distinction of foods, and festivals.<ref>Mark Hanna, 2004 [https://scdwels.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/2004-10-hanna.pdf The Contribution of Martin Chemnitz to Our Lutheran Heritage], p. 9.</ref>

In response, Andrada wrote the five-part ''[[Defensio Tridentinæ fidei]]'',<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lGM8AAAAcAAJ Defensio]'', 716 pp., free on Google Books.</ref> which was published posthumously in 1578. However, the ''Defensio'' did not circulate as extensively as the ''Examen'', nor were full translations initially published. A French translation of the ''Examen'' by Eduard Preuss was published in 1861. German translations were published in 1861, 1884, and 1972. In English, a complete translation by Fred Kramer drawing from the original Latin and the 1861 German was published beginning in 1971.

== See also ==
* [[Nicolas Psaume]], bishop of Verdun
* [[Black Legend (Spain)]]
* [[Popery]]
* [[Synod of Jerusalem (1672)|Council of Jerusalem-Bethlehem]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* [[Ralf van Bühren|Bühren, Ralf van]]: ''Kunst und Kirche im 20. Jahrhundert. Die Rezeption des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils'' (Konziliengeschichte, Reihe B: Untersuchungen), Paderborn 2008, {{ISBN|978-3-506-76388-4}}
* O'Malley, John W., in ''The Sensuous in the Counter-Reformation Church'', Eds: [[Marcia B. Hall]], Tracy E. Cooper, 2013, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-1-107-01323-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-AnYifgRz7QC&pg=PA8 google books]
* [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029369760/mode/2up James Waterworth (ed.), ''The Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Oecumenical Council of Trent'' (1848)]

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book|url = https://archive.org/details/dogmaticcanonsan00unknuoft/page/90/mode/2up|title = Dogmatic canons and decrees : authorized translations of the dogmatic decrees of the Council of Trent, the decree on the Immaculate Conception, the Syllabus of Pope Pius IX, and the decrees of the Vatican Council|date =  1912|publisher = Devin-Adair Company|location = New York|archive-url = https://archive.today/20201006093438/https://archive.org/stream/dogmaticcanonsan00unknuoft/dogmaticcanonsan00unknuoft_djvu.txt|archive-date = 6 October 2020|url-status = live|access-date = 6 October 2020}} (with ''[[imprimatur]]'' of cardinal [[John Murphy Farley|Farley]])
* [[Paolo Sarpi]], ''Historia del Concilio Tridentino'', London: John Bill,1619 (''History of the Council of Trent'', English translation by [[Nathaniel Brent]], London 1620, 1629 and 1676)
* [[Francesco Sforza Pallavicino]], ''Istoria del concilio di Trento''. In Roma, nella stamperia d'Angelo Bernabò dal Verme erede del Manelfi: per Giovanni Casoni libraro, 1656–57
* John W. O'Malley: ''Trent: What Happened at the Council'', Cambridge (Massachusetts), The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013, {{ISBN|978-0-674-06697-7}}
* [[Hubert Jedin]]: ''Entstehung und Tragweite des Trienter Dekrets über die Bilderverehrung'', in: Tübinger Theologische Quartalschrift 116, 1935, pp.&nbsp;143–88, 404–429
* [[Hubert Jedin]]: ''Geschichte des Konzils von Trient'', 4 vol., Freiburg im Breisgau 1949–1975 (A History of the Council of Trent, 2 vol., London 1957 and 1961)
* [[Hubert Jedin]]: ''Konziliengeschichte'', Freiburg im Breisgau 1959
* Mullett, Michael A. "The Council of Trent and the Catholic Reformation", in his ''The Catholic Reformation'' (London: Routledge, 1999, {{ISBN|0-415-18915-2}}, pbk.), pp.&nbsp;29–68. ''N.B''.: The author also mentions the Council elsewhere in his book.
* Schroeder, H. J., ed. and trans. ''The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent: English Translation'', trans. [and introduced] by H. J. Schroeder. Rockford, Ill.: TAN Books and Publishers, 1978. ''N.B''.: "The original 1941 edition contained [both] the Latin text and the English translation. This edition contains only the English translation..."; comprises only the council's dogmatic decrees, excluding the purely disciplinary ones.
* Mathias Mütel: ''Mit den Kirchenvätern gegen Martin Luther? Die Debatten um Tradition und auctoritas patrum auf dem Konzil von Trient'', Paderborn 2017 (= [[Konziliengeschichte]]. Reihe B., Untersuchungen)

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource portal}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Council of Trent Spoken Version.ogg|date=2013-08-21}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Council of Trent}}
* [http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent.html The text of the Council of Trent] translated by J. Waterworth, 1848 ([http://www.intratext.com/X/ENG0432.HTM also on Intratext])
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_10_1545-1563-_Concilium_Tridentinum.html Documents of the Council in Latin]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121009172137/http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/TRENT.ZIP ZIP version of the documents of the Council of Trent] (archived 9 October 2012)

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