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Counter reformation is when you set a counter to zero. This is illegal for a car speedometer.
The '''Counter Reformation''' (about 1560 to around 1610 or as late as 1648 for some historians) was a partially successful effort by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] to roll back the [[Protestant Reformation]]. Using new agencies like the [[Jesuits]], and removing much of the corruption and complaints that had weakened the Church and given the Reformers many arguments, the Church managed to hold or reclaim most of Southern and Eastern Europe, including Spain, Italy, Austria and France, and large parts of Poland, Hungary and Germany. By strengthening Catholic theology and reigning in objectionable practices, it hoped to either reabsorb or neutralize the Protestant movement while renewing the faith of the Catholic Church.
The Counter Reformation began in 1560 and end in 1648 with the conclusion of the [[Thirty Years' War]] between Catholic and Protestants. Some defining moments were the creation of the [[Jesuits]] and the convening of the [[Council of Trent]]. In the end the Protestant break was permanent and positions adopted or reaffirmed by the Catholic Church had a tendency to define the differences, but did little to mend them.
===Spain===
The (lay) Third Order of Saint Francis was revived in 17th-century Castile, establishing the Counter Reformation at all levels of society from royalty to peasantry. The priests vigorously developed and defended the concept of [[purgatory]], which had been rejected by Protestant theology. Despite the Church's efforts to make its intercession the only means of benefiting departed souls, other folk beliefs remained common in popular religious culture.
===Austrian Empire===
From the 1580s to abour 1650, most parishes had elementary schools, designed chiefly to provide candidates for the priesthood. After 1650, as the decisions of the Council of Trent took effect, the Church began intensive efforts to organize secondary schools as well. The goal was an educated laity among the middle classes and the lesser nobility. The Jesuits played a key role; their friaries became centers of intellectual, cultural, and religious life. For example, Jesuit school plays expressed Baroque aesthetic values and had a dramatic impact in the Hungarian and Bohemian regions. They influenced popular culture and popular theological beliefs and religious piety.
===France and Netherland===
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, 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>
==External Links==
* [http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/counterr.htm summary]
==Further reading==
* Dickens, A. G. ''The Counter Reformation'' (1969), the best introduction
* Luebke, David, ed. ''The Counter-Reformation: The Essential Readings'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Counter-Reformation-Essential-Readings-Blackwell-History/dp/0631211047/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243342762&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search], 9 essays by scholars
*MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), 830pp; influential recent survey covers both Reformation and Catholic responses [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* O'Connell, Marvin R. ''Counter-reformation, 1550-1610'' (1974)
* Pollen, John Hungerford. "The Counter-Reformation." in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia.'' Vol. 4. (1908) [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04437a.htm old but detailed; strong Catholic viewpoint]
* Wernham, R. B. ed. ''The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 3: Counter-Reformation and Price Revolution, 1559-1610'' (1968), essays by scholars
* AWright, A.D. ''The Counter-Reformation'' (1982), advanced scholarly synthesis
[[Category:Catholic Church]]
[[Category:European History]]
[[Category:Reformation]]
[[Category:Protestantism]]