Changes

===Excommunication===

===Excommunication===

One of the main weapons used by the Counter Reformation Church to discipline its faithful was excommunication. In theory, this was the gravest spiritual punishment because it meant not only deprivation of the sacraments but also the termination of communication and human relations--no good Catholic was supposed to talk to an excommunicated one. However, the abuse of excommunication from the late Middle Ages onward led to its discredit in the minds of many Catholics. In 1563, the Council of Trent made the decision to reestablish excommunication as a punishment for disobedience, rebelliousness, or contumacy, no matter what the reasons were for the contumacy.  

One of the main weapons used by the Counter Reformation Church to discipline its faithful was excommunication. In theory, this was the gravest spiritual punishment because it meant not only deprivation of the sacraments but also the termination of communication and human relations—no good Catholic was supposed to talk to an excommunicated one. However, the abuse of excommunication from the late Middle Ages onward led to its discredit in the minds of many Catholics. In 1563, the Council of Trent made the decision to reestablish excommunication as a punishment for disobedience, rebelliousness, or contumacy, no matter what the reasons were for the contumacy.  

===Spain===

===Spain===

====Witchcraft====

====Witchcraft====

Friedrich Förner, a principal architect of the Counter-Reformation in Germany, is famous for his 1626 treatise on witchcraft, ''Panoplia Armaturae Dei.'' Taking a historical perspective, he argued the simultaneous rise of witchcraft and Calvinism represented the final stage in the devil's assault on Christianity. With the defeat of the Calvinist heresy in the first stages of the Thirty Years' War, in desperation the devil had employed witches in a last-ditch effort to destroy the Catholic faith. Förner's reconstruction of ecclesiastical history provided the ideological justification for the final assault on witchcraft, culminating in the many trials of the 1620s and 1630s.<ref>Wm. Bradford Smith, "Friedrich Förner, The Catholic Reformation, and Witch-Hunting in Bamberg," ''Sixteenth Century Journal'' 2005 36(1): 115-128 </ref>

Friedrich Förner, a principal architect of the Counter-Reformation in Germany, is famous for his 1626 treatise on witchcraft, ''Panoplia Armaturae Dei.'' Taking a historical perspective, he argued the simultaneous rise of witchcraft and Calvinism represented the final stage in the devil's assault on Christianity. With the defeat of the Calvinist heresy in the first stages of the Thirty Years' War, in desperation the devil had employed witches in a last-ditch effort to destroy the Catholic faith. Förner's reconstruction of ecclesiastical history provided the ideological justification for the final assault on witchcraft, culminating in the many trials of the 1620s and 1630s.<ref>Wm. Bradford Smith, "Friedrich Förner, The Catholic Reformation, and Witch-Hunting in Bamberg," ''Sixteenth Century Journal'' 2005 36(1): 115-128</ref>

===Poland===

===Poland===

Pollmann, (2006) compares the reactions of Dutch and French Catholics to the Reformation. Although both groups opposed the Protestants, French Catholics often took violent reprisals against them while Dutch Catholics were more passive. Among the causes of the difference in reactions were the dependence of the Dutch Catholic clergy on retaining the goodwill of the ruling class with its strong Reformed connections, the absence of [[Jesuit]] influence in the Netherlands, and the reluctance of the Dutch clergy to call on the lay population to take to the streets.

Pollmann, (2006) compares the reactions of Dutch and French Catholics to the Reformation. Although both groups opposed the Protestants, French Catholics often took violent reprisals against them while Dutch Catholics were more passive. Among the causes of the difference in reactions were the dependence of the Dutch Catholic clergy on retaining the goodwill of the ruling class with its strong Reformed connections, the absence of [[Jesuit]] influence in the Netherlands, and the reluctance of the Dutch clergy to call on the lay population to take to the streets.

All of those reasons contrasted strongly with France, where the ruling class and priests often encouraged the laity to take violent actions against Protestants. The violence that often occurred between the two groups during the Reformation was not inevitable but dependent on local conditions.<ref> Judith Pollmann, "Countering the Reformation in France and the Netherlands: Clerical Leadership and Catholic Violence 1560-1585," ''Past & Present'' 2006 (190): 83-120 online at [[EBSCO]]</ref>

All of those reasons contrasted strongly with France, where the ruling class and priests often encouraged the laity to take violent actions against Protestants. The violence that often occurred between the two groups during the Reformation was not inevitable but dependent on local conditions.<ref>Judith Pollmann, "Countering the Reformation in France and the Netherlands: Clerical Leadership and Catholic Violence 1560-1585," ''Past & Present'' 2006 (190): 83-120 online at [[EBSCO]]</ref>

==External Links==

==External links==

* [http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/counterr.htm summary]

* [http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/counterr.htm summary]