Trent: negotiation and discernment

Abstract

The Council of Trent develops in three periods throughout eighteen years, in an extremely complicated international context. The Ottoman advance; the internal and the external conflicts caused by the creation of the various modern national monarchies (Spanish Monarchy, France, England, etc.); the birth of the religious reforms, starting from 1518, places the Catholic Church and the Papacy in the spotlight. Facing a general petition to convene a Council, the Pope resisted, and the activities of the Council began only in 1545. In the Council of Trent, we find a legal response to a moment of crisis. In this work we present the most relevant features of this response, and a research proposal based on the analysis of the individual elements that were part of the conciliar assembly.

Keywords: Council of Trent; negotiation; History of the Church 16th century.