COUNTER-REFORMATION
442
COUNTER-REFORMATION
eress, and it must be remembered that controversies
have arisen at one time or another even about the
leading facts.
Germany and Austria. — Here it is evident that in the first named country the losses of the Cathohcs did not cease with the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555. The Protestants, as the occasion arose, had not hesitated to avail themselves of religious troubles in various episcopal sees and had possessed themselves of two archbishoprics (Magdeburg and Bremen), and of 12 important bishoprics. It was only by recourse to arms that Cologne was saved in 1583; and the freedom of Strasburg and Aachen was in grave danger. There were also many defections among the lesser princes, and so long as Maximilian II (1564-76) was emperor, his Protestant proclivities prevented the Catholics from acting with the vigour and author- ity which became their number and their cause. For the alarming condition of Northern Germany about 1600 see "Rom. Quartalschrift" ( 1900) , p. 385 sqq. So serious did the general position become, that St. Peter Canisius (q. v.; rhetorically compared the Catholic countries of Bavaria and the Tyrol to the two tribes of Israel, which alone were saved while all the others were carried off captive (see O. Braunsberger, Canisii Epistulae et Acta, Freiburg, 1896-1905, I-IV). In- deed, Albert V of Bavaria (1550-79) seemed almost the only Catholic prince who could make head against the Protestants. He used his authority freely to ex- clude Protestants from posts of trust, etc., an example afterwards imitated by other Catholic princes (see Knopfler, Die Kelchbewegung in Bayern unter .\lbrecht V, Munich, 1901). There was more satis- factory progress among the Catholics themselves. A new generation of bishops was growing up. Though it was impossible to put an immediate end to the abuses of "patronage" practised by the nobility and the princes, the proportion of men chosen for their capacity and virtues had everywhere increased. Otto von Truchsess, Bishop of Augsburg, has been men- tioned, and with him may be classed Julius Echtcr von Mespelbrunn, Bishop of Wiirzburg (said to have reconciled some 60,000 souls). Cardinal Klcssel, Arch- bishop of Vienna, Theodore von Fiirstenberg, Ernst von Mengersdorf, Dietrich von Raitenau, of Pader- born, Bamberg, and Salzburg respectively, and many others. They were truly "columns of the church", whose influence was felt far beyond the limits of their dioceses. Far-reaching, too, were the good results effected by the Catholic writers. Tanner, Gretscher (Gretser), Laymann, Contzen, and by preachers and missionaries, especially Canisius, called the malleus hwreticorum, and other Jesuits and Dominicans. The Jesuit colleges also increased steadily and were pro- ductive of great and permanent good.
At last with the reign of Rudolph II as emperor (1576-1612) came the occasion for tlic Ciuiiitcr- Reformation in Germany and Austria. \\ lunvn- tln> House of Hapsburg had influence the Catholic ininrrs and lords began to exercise the same right of reforma- tion (Reformationsrecht, Jus reformandi) in behalf of the Church, which the Protestants had hitherto used against her. But the latter ere long became sus- picious. In 1608 they joined in an offensive and de- fensive "union" which the Catholics answered by their "League". In this way the opposing parties soon drifted into the Thirty Years War (q. v.) which lasted from 1618 to 1648. "Though the Catholic allies commenced at the greatest disadvantage, they grad- ually won the upper hand. By the end of 1631 they seemed .so sec\ire of their superiority, that Ferdinand II by his "Restitutionsedict" (Edict of Restitution) recalled th(! Church lands seized by Protestants since the Religious Peace of AugsVjurg in 1555, and in partic- ular the aforesaid two archbislioprios and twelve liish- oprics. The political power of thcCathdlics now stood at the highest i)oint it reached during the Counter-
Reformation. But a reaction soon set in ; France and
Sweden joined hands with the Protestants, and the
Catholics hail mithiT the enthusiasm nor the unity of
purpose to iii;iiiit:Mn their advantage. The Peace of
Monster ami ( >sii;iliriick, in 1648, disastrous and hu-
miliating as it was for tiermany politically, was also
most injurious to Catholicism. (See Westphali.a.,
TRE.4.TY OF.) Church lands were freely secularized,
and distributed, as the price of peace, to lay lords
who practically had the right of dictating to their
subjects the religion they might profess. The secular
authorities, even in Catholic countries, claimed and
exercised a right of plarel in tin- clioice of bishops,
which was in the long run most injurioas. .\mid the
distractions of war, the deceits of victory, and the
miseries of defeat, the fervoiu' of the Counter-Refor-
mation had evaporated.
France. — If the Counter-Reformation had much to fear and to suffer from the politics of secular princes, it was from France that it had most to dread. The wars of Francis I with the Emperor Charles V had given the Reformation an occasion for spreading. France had been the chief difficulty at the Council of Trent. In France the struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism was carried on with great bitter- ness and cruelty. Though the eventual victory of the Counter-Reformation was very extensive, it was nowhere later in coming ; no where had there been such danger of a great disaster. This was due to the close- ness of the connexion of Church with State. In vir- tue of the so-called Galilean Liberties (q. v.) the king and nobles exercised undue influence over the appointment of bishops, abbots, and clergy, and ec- clesiastical administration in general. But the later rulers of the House of Valois, as also Catherine de' Medici were miserably wanting in principle, and all efforts at reform under such leaders ended in turmoil and strife. Margaret of Valois, sister of Francis I, had favoured Protestantism, and it soon infected the House of Bourbon (Kings of Navarre), into which she had married, and which claimed the succession to the French throne. Henry II had shamelessly allied him- self with Protestant powers abroad, while he burned heretics at home. Heresy spread among the princes of the blood and the highest nobility, who drew their retainers after them. Hence the numberless quar- rels and the seven bloody "Wars of Religion" (1562, 1567, 1569, 1573, 1577, 1580, 1587-93). Both sides were cruel, but the barbarities of the Calvinists were especially revolting to Catholic feelings. In battle the Catholics were generally victorious, but in the negotiations for peace the Protestants gained more and more concessions. This was in great measure due to the unprincipled "see-saw" policy of Catherine de' Medici (q. v.), who cynically inclined first to one side, then to another. At last Henry III having as- sassinated the Catholic leaders of the House of Guise, was himself assassinated, and the throne was claimed by Henrj' of Navarre. But as he was a Huguenot, the Catholic people of France would not accept him, and the war dragged on, with disastrous effects to French power, until Henry IV became a Catholic in 1593, and was absolvetl by Pope Clement VIII in 1.595. France recovered with wonderful rapidity on the restoration of peace, and it was now that the Catholic revival began in earnest, reaching its highest point in the following reign.
Clement VIII had laid down four principal condi- tions for absolving King Henrv: (1) the heir to the throne must be educated as a Catholic; (2) a convent or monastery was to be established in every province in reparation for the numbers which had been de- stroyed; (3) Catholic worship must be introduced even into Huguetiot towns; (4) the Council of Trent must be proclaimed. The Counter-Reformation in France may be said to have followed the lines here laid down. Thus (1) Louis Xll I, the son and heir of
