Notes on Significant Religious Events and People in History

Company/Society of Jesus: The Society of Jesus is a male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits. Jesuits work in education, (founding schools, seminaries, and universities) intellectual research and cultural pursuits.

Since the sixteenth century, the Spanish expanded their religious, Catholicism, to the America and settle their belief into the Native American. During the time period of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the religious upheavals caused many changes in the society not only in the America but also some Europe countries. This put a huge impact on the life of people in many countries.

The purpose of the Council of Trent: Rules on Prohibited Books document was written to establish and clarify the books that are banned, the rules concerning said banned books, and the punishments for breaking the rules regarding the banned books. The document states one exception, that all books banned prior to 1515 by either the supreme pontiffs or by ecumenical councils are to be condemned in the same manner as before. Books needed to be regulated by the church in order to maintain control over the people by using religious pretenses. If someone were to have the banned books readily available to them they may start to question the way the Catholic way of life or the way the faith was being practiced. The writers of the Rules on Prohibited

The Council of Trent played an important part in determining the outcome of the Counter-Reformation.

This was a trading network that was originally established by North German town in order to keep close trading allies and to avoid the involvement of enemies or pirates getting in the way of trading. The Germans traded with countries like England and the Scandinavian countries all the way to the Baltic Sea. Importing and exporting goods through this network was rather fruitful for not only the Germans at the time, but to the whole North Sea economy. The principal products that they traded were furs, honey, tar, timber, flax, grain, cloth, copper, iron, and herring. Eventually the Hanseatic League started declining because it lacked centralized power. During this same time, around the 15th century, the Dutch were a growing economy. So much so, that they were able to overthrow the Germans, who had been dominating the trade market around the North Sea for so long. By the 16th century the Dutch had immense control over the North Sea and had even managed to branch out to the Baltic Sea as well. By 1669, the Hanseatic League had disappeared due to the Dutch’s fast growing mercantile and economic prosperity. The Germans had been overpowered by the Dutch’s primary control of the North Sea and the Swede’s control of the Baltic Sea. This brought an end to the Hanseatic League and with that, a new era of trading domination that involved new countries

The Council of Trent is one of the Catholic Church’s most significant councils; therefore, before going further, it is important to give further explanation on the Council of Trent. The Council took almost two decades to complete, three periods, and five papal successions from 1545-1563. The Council’s location in northern Italy was a strategic move due to Imperial and papal power. For political reasons in 1547, the location changed to Bologna; however, there was dissent and therefore the convening of the council was suspended. The Council reassembled six years later in 1551 after Pope Paul III’s death; his successor was Pope Julius III, who was a papal legate during the first session of Trent. During this second session the council addressed important theological issues on the sacraments of penance, Eucharist and extreme unction (anointing of the sick); however due to political dangers, the council was forced into suspension in 1552 with the intent of reconvening in two years. It actually ended up being ten years before the council reconvened and two popes later. Pope Marcellus II, another former papal legate to Trent succeeded Pope Julius III but died within a month of his

Towns around the North Sea formed a club called the Hanseatic league, which encompassed over 70 towns by 1350, all abiding by strict trade rules(Jeremiah 231). These towns monopolized the North Sea and controlled all trade routes, through it. Many of these commercial contracts came together taking advantage of different social and geologic factors, allowing cities and towns to grow and the economy to prosper. Just due to the location of villages, and land in general would towns and cities pop up, as the wealthier look for ways to make more money and put their mark on the history of Europe. The climate of these locations also helped in the economy, gentle rains during the years helped give fruitful harvests, soft winds blew ships into ports, and calm climates allowed easy travel over

Saint Ignatius Loyola was a nobleman whom entered the Spanish army in 1517, but once he meets the French at battle, he gained a viscous battle wound that took him off the front line . Thus, he found god around the time of 1521 and converted from serving the royal crown of Spain, to serving the divine majesty until his death on the 31st of July 1556 . Saint Ignatius Loyola had then decided he was to go to Montserrat where he confessed his sins and was able to be vindicated . With confessing and realising his true destiny, he aimed to go to the holy land of Palestine but was rejected entry and returned to Spain to gain an education . Saint Ignatius Loyola studied within three universities and was imprisoned at two because he fell under suspicion of heresy, which was the act of provocative beliefs, which the Spanish did not like . He studied first within Barcelona during 1524-26 and at Alcala during 1526-27, where he was imprisoned, and lastly he studied at Salamanca 1527-28 where he was imprisoned again for heresy . Saint Ignatius Loyola and six other followers took vowel of poverty and chastity and became the heart and soul of the soon to come Jesuits. The Jesuits was founded by Ignatius which he created the order of Jesuits which gained approval in 1540 by Pope Paul III, which he soon, in 1541, became general of the order until is passing. Ignatius became a famous figure within the 16th century, and is still a strong figure in Catholicism within the 21st century.

Company/Society of Jesus- The Society of Jesus or the Jesuits are a religious congregation of the Catholic Church comprised of an entirely male population and founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Society is engaged in apostolic missions around the world, offering retreats and the spiritual exercises, promoting social justice. Presently, Jesuits work in education, medical facilities, churches, parishes, etc. while at the same time spreading their cultural interests around the world.

The Catholic Church came back with a “counterreformation” against the Protestants. There counter attack consisted of the Society of Jesus, called the Jesuits. According to Sherman, Grunfeld, Markowitz, Rosner, and Heywood (2006), “The Jesuits became an arm of the Church in combating Protestantism, spreading Catholicism to foreign lands and gaining influence within Catholic areas of Europe” (p. 201). Pope Paul III accepted the Jesuits’ proposal in 1540.

Not all things were positive in the Middle Ages. There was a division between the East and the West in the Catholic Church due to different philosophies. The Greek Orthodox followed Greek thinking and the Roman Catholic Church followed Latin/Roman ideas. Eventually, they formally split and excommunicated each other and their followers. The Crusades started with “good intentions”, to return the Holy Land to the Catholics from the Muslims. This, of course, was a disaster.

The Hanseatic League is probably the oldest trace of city alliances in Europe that actually started as a merchant’s society in the Middle Ages.

As Gerard searched for an authoritative religion while he was in Oxford, he became captivated by John Henry Newman. He saw the Newman converted from the Anglican Church to the Catholic Church and that grabbed his attention. After understanding Newman’s choice he himself also converted to Catholicism in 1866. By 1888 Gerard had joined the Society of Jesus, which is a clergy order founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Society of Jesus Order concentrates mainly on theological scholarship and spreading the values of faith. On his journey to become a Jesuit priest Gerard gave up on poetry. He believed that expressing himself through poetry was being too original. Hopkins did not want his love of poetry to draw attention. To prevent his personal goal from diverging him from becoming a Jesuit priest, he sacrificed his passion and burned his early poems.

The council of Nicaea was the first Ecumenical Council of Church history. It took place in 325 AD in the town of Nicaea (Britannica). Nicaea, which is present day Turkey, welcomed multiple Bishops into its gates in the year that the council took place (Mcguckin). At the council, they covered various topics of conversation and tried to settle many dogmatic disputes that arose over the years. Ecumenical councils, like this one, are very important to the Catholic faith. The council of Nicaea is important to our Catholic faith because it disputed the heresy of Arius, was the council where the Nicean Creed started to be formed, and restored the peace and belief in one God amongst the church.

Hence, the Italian city-states had the most ideal and stable breeding ground for trade, as Italy’s location was at the middle of both sea and land trade routes that were between Europe and Asia. Due to the ideal and stable breeding ground, this encouraged a change in social structure through the sharing of intellectual ideas within the city-states. For example, a federation called the Hanseatic League was created by Northern European cities; Venice and and the Italian city-states had a monopoly on trade in their