Council of Trent
Council of Trent
Roman Catholicism
Period I: 1545–47
Though Germany demanded a general council following
the excommunication of the German Reformation leader Martin Luther,
Pope Clement VII held back for fear of renewed attacks on his supremacy.
France, too, preferred inaction, afraid of increasing German power. Clement’s
successor, Paul III, however, was convinced that Christian unity and effective
church reform could come only through a council. After his first attempts were
frustrated, he convoked a council at Trent (northern Italy), which opened on
December 13, 1545.