How did Philip’s religious policies impact on the Catholic Church and

Spain?

Impact

Maintain authority and control over

the church

Eradicate heresy

Church revenue

Doctrine

Papal Supremacy

Spread Catholicism

Defend Catholicism

Increase Catholic worship

Reform the Church

organisationMaintain relations with the Pope

Assessment Criteria

Key areasPhilip IIUse of the inquisition and Auto de fesLimpiezaDoctrinal UniformityStudents recalled from aboardIndexTridentine Decrees Moriscos RevoltNew WorldRelations with the PopeForeign Policy

Tridentine DecreesKey to counter reformation and spearheaded by P2Accepted by Philip but not at the expense of his own

authorityProvincial Councils were tasked with removing

corruptionDissolved decaying monasteriesIncreased number of bishops some energetic e.g. 6 in

AragonSeminaries set up 20 by 1598Issued new prayer book and calendarEncouraged religious artEscorial – symbol of power and strengthInquisition monitored and reported on progress

Other Policies1561 Limpieza (purity of bloody) Conversos

and Moriscos excluded from ChurchDoctrine uniformity enforced more

rigorously Mystics and humanists suppressed -

‘keeping silent out of fear’Students studying aboard recalledIndex created (censorship)Inquisition - Auto de fe

ImpactRelied on local bishops and therefore

implementation variedOnly 20 seminaries est by 1598Didn’t expel all non-Christian practices e.g. Bull

fighting on holy daysRural Spaniards – still semi paganFestivals and ceremonies remainedSuperstitionsMany non-Christian practices endured into 17th

Century in rural / remote areas

ImpactRole of inquisition - did not process the

resources to enforce prohibitions and censorship controls e.g. 45 inquisitors for population of 8 million.

ImpactMore effective church? More Christianised?Overall difficult to measureToledo and Cuenca – inquisitional records

show ability of laity to recite Lord’s Prayer increased from 40% 1555 to 82% 1600

100 years after Trent – missionary in remote Pyrenees reported ‘a very great need there to teach doctrine, because even the adults were like children in their knowledge and were ignorant of the most fundamental things’.

Historians – disappointing picture of progress made by the Catholic Reformation

Kamen concluded that Spain was barely more Christianised by 1600 that it had been in 1500, for all the efforts of the King, Inquisition and the Counter-Reformation