Book Description

The early sixteenth century, a time of great religious ferment and upheaval, is marked historically by the Protestant Reformation. Professor Olin focuses here on a parallel movement of renewal and reform that remained within the Catholic Church--a movement of fundamental importance, but one not often given due emphasis or analysis. A lengthy study traces the course of Catholic reform from Ximenes' initiatives to the close of the Council of Trent. Several key documents, translated from the Latin, and a study of Ignatius Loyola, arguably the most important contributor to Catholic reform, show through contemporary sources and activities the character of the Catholic reform movement. Book jacket.