preview

What Were The Impact Of The Counter Reformation

Decent Essays

Early modern Europe is the period between 1400-1800 , this period covers the years from the renaissance to the French Revolution . One of the most important elements which shaped early modern Europe was the Reformation . The Reformation is a disturbance in the religious and political culture of the 16th century . This revolution disintegrated christian Europe and settled in place new attitudes and theories that would outline the modern era. It was a very long process of change , communities were divided ,which resulted in a rise of enemies both within and outside communities.The Reformation was the most important element that would shape this period because it led to other very important events like the counter - reformation , the thirty year …show more content…

The Church was slow to respond to the threat of Luther and other reformers and so the council of Trent , tried to fix the problems that had triggered the Reformation .“The gathering at Trent found a balanced solution , since it decided to discuss alternately one theological issue and one reform issue.”This lead to the state and the church becoming more organised and systematic , the clergy was better trained and so there was better religious teachings and instructions. The catholic church after the counter- reformation put in more effort because of the protestant threat and so became more spiritual and more educated . The consequences of the reformation and the counter- reformation let to long lasting political and religious wars and rebellions . The thirty year war ( 1618-1648) was one of them . The war was Catholics against protestants and France against the Habsburg's . The Thirty year war was one of the wort conflicts Europe had experienced till then …show more content…

Questions like , from where does one get authority ? And if I am protestant do I obey christian authority ? Are what lead to Absolutism , kings believed that they shouldn’t have to divide authority with others ,the Reformation changed the way of thinking. This new way of thinking also led to a number of wars. An additional important impact on Europe happened in the 18th century by the Enlightened despots . The 18th century was the age of enlightenment and the age of reason. “It stressed reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith and superstition.” The Enlightened despots took up some of the ideas and seemed to be interested in improving the lives of their followers , but they still did not want to share their power , this meant that they only used the ideas that would make them stronger and this was not fully welcomed by the people . The French Revolutions was directly inspired by the new Enlightened ideals and this marked the peak of its influence but also the start of its

Get Access