The Refashioning of Catholicism, 1450-1700: A Reassessment of the Counter-Ref...

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• Format: Hardcover

Unlike the traditional terms Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reform, this book
does not see Catholicism from 1450 to 1700 primarily in relationship to the
Protestant Reformation but as both shaped by the revolutionary changes of the
early modern period and actively refashioning itself in response to these
changes: the emergence of the early modern state; economic growth and social
dislocation; the expansion of Europe across the seas; the Renaissance; and, to
be sure, the Protestant Reformation. Bireley devotes particular attention to
new methods of evangelization in the Old World and the New, education at the
elementary, secondary and university levels, the new active religious orders
of women and men, and the effort to create a spirituality for the Christian
living in the world. A final chapter looks at the issues raised by
Machiavelli, Galileo and Pascal.Robert Bireley is a leading Jesuit historian
and uniquely well placed to reassess this centrally important subject for
understanding the dynamics of early modern Europe. This book will be of great
value to all those studying the political, social, religious and cultural
history of the period.