The implementation of the Counter-Reformation in Catalan-speaking lands (1563-1700): A successful process?

Abstract

The process of the Counter-Reformation, embarked on after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), was successful in some parts of Europe, whilst in others it did not manage to change the existing religious practices or morals. In the Catalanspeaking lands, we cannot yet reach a definitive answer on the success or failure of the Counter-Reformation. We do know that there was an intense reforming campaign undertaken by the king, the Church authorities and a major swath of the regular clergy, heightened by fear that proximity to France and Occitan immigrants would foster the penetration of Calvinism. Vast resources were poured into the propagation of the Catholic dogmas and the reform of the clergy, as defined during and after the Council of Trent. However, other factors hindered this process, including banditry and the presence of Muslim converts to Christianity. A hypothesis can be put forth that in heavily urban areas, the Counter-Reformation was ultimately imposed in the middle term, but that it encountered more difficulties in the mountainous and more rural and isolated areas despite the efforts of the reformers.