Catholic reform

It was the most important renewal in the history of the Catholic church, which started with the reform resolutions passed at the synod of Trento (Trident) (1545-1563) after some precedents in Italy and Spain in the 15-16th centuries. The most significant results of the Catholic reform were the formation of new monastic orders, through their work the development of Catholic schools and education; the appearance of highly qualified bishops and priests, who took care of the faithful; the appearance of crowds of eager secular believers - these are rather the signs of the internal renewal of the Catholic church than any indication of a struggle against the Reformation. At the same time, however, in countries to where the Reformation had spread (mainly in the countries of the Habsburgs and in France) the Catholic church - which was in alliance with the government - did its best to hinder Protestant churches (armed church occupations, violent conversions). Thus in these regions Catholic reform and the signs of anti-reformation were interwoven in several cases. In Hungary in the reign of Rudolf I and Leopold I anti-reformation was stronger, while the work of Péter Pázmány, Archbishop of Esztergom (1616-1637) was undoubtedly the peak of Catholic reform in Hungary.

MA