KeniaBoone

The Council of Trent By Kenia Boone

= ﻿ =

Argument: The Council of Trent was a council put together to reform faith, restore moral, and reunite the Chrisitan people.The council was also put together to determine the doctrines of the church. The Council of Trent opened on December 13, 1545. The council had many sessions trying to determine the many doctrines of the church. While the Council of Trent did not achieve the goals of reformation of faith, restoring the moral, and the reunion of all Christians. The council did retore the energy and the spirit of the Roman Church. Since the Council of Trent was formed, My argument is to prove that it was not necessary for them to convene on many issues. Take for example the discussion on marriage. In 1563 the Council of Trent made the decree on the sacrament of matrimony which was made up of 12 canons, these canons explained the various conditions for contracting a valid marriage. Thus further proving that it was not necessary to have a 12 canons for marriage and then have 10 chapters reformed, although this decree still exist is it followed for marriage to take place today.

The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent was a council formed to reform faith, restore moral, and reunite the Christian people. The council was also formed to determine the doctrines or laws of the church. The Council of Trent opened on December 13, 1545. The council had many sessions trying to determine the many doctrines of the church. While the council did not successfully accomplish the goals of reformation of faith, restoring moral, and the reunion of all Christians, the council did restore the energy and spirit of the Roman Catholic Church. Since the Council of Trent was formed, in this paper I will prove that it was not necessary for the council to convene on the many issues that they did. Take for example the discussion on marriage. In 1563 the Council of Trent made the decree on the sacrament of matrimony which was made up of 12 canons or books. These canons explained the various conditions for contracting a valid marriage. I argue that marriages which were called clandestine marriages were already taking place and it was not necessary to have the decree of matrimony.

The Council of Trent was a council of the Roman Catholic Church. This council was formed and held at Trent in northern Italy during the years of 1545 and 1563. The Council of Trent was called by Paul III, who was the pope from 1534 until 1549. The purpose of the Council of Trent was to reform faith, restore moral, and reunite the Christian people. The council was also put together in order to answer the heresies of the Protestants. In total the Council of Trent met for Twenty Five sessions. In which these sessions was split into three major parts. “The council was made up of three legates, one cardinal, four archbishops, twenty-one bishops and five generals of order.” (Lindberg pg.339) The Council opened on December 13, 1545, which was the start of the First session. The First session consisted of dealing with forming doctrines. In this session the seven sacraments were reaffirmed and the council came up with doctrines such as: scripture alone and tradition were to be equal, the church was the only one who could interpret the Bible, in order to obtain salvation you had to do good works, and it stated that bishops and priests had to preach on a regular basis.(MacCulloch pp.228) In the second session not much was accomplished, but they did reaffirm that pilgrimage and penances were to be upheld, and the doctrine about transubstantiation and that communion in both kinds were condemned along with any other Protestant views of the Eucharist. The third session laid out all the qualifications of the clergy. This session also confirmed the beliefs in purgatory, invocation of the saints, along with clerical celibacy. All of these were considered to be major elements in the Catholic Church. The Council also gave much power to the pope; the pope was looked at like Christ like. Majority of what the council of Trent put into place was to help and benefit the church as a whole. Last but not lease the Council of Trent reaffirmed the seven sacraments which were baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony. All the decrees were confirmed on January 26, 1564. Although the council did fail to achieve all of it goals the council did however, restore the spirit and energy to the Roman church. (Lindberg pp.342-343)

In the middle Ages marriages were taking place and they were called Clandestine Marriages. These marriages at this time were considered to be a valid way of marriage. First let me inform you of what clandestine mean. The Webster dictionary defines clandestine as done in private or secret. In other words marriages in which cannot be proved before the law. The Western Church was taught that marriage did not have to be held in front of the priest, but by the mutual consent of one another. As long as both parties agreed to the marriage then it could be performed. No witnesses were necessary and it could be held in a private place. Clandestine marriages were usually just blessed by the priest but not actually performed. During my research I found out that typically the people who chose to marry clandestinely included “country people who were following the ancient practices of trothplight (a practice led to a church wedding normally when the bride is pregnant). The very wealthy that just did not want to have a public wedding for the risk of embarrassment. Young people who were escaping parental consent and did not want the parents to know, bigamist and those seeking to marry within the prohibited degrees. All other clandestine marriages were those that chose to be married by their own clergyman. These people were poor and seeking to avoid the cost of a church wedding, the non believers and the drunks.” (Donahue pg.453) Clandestine marriages in the middle ages did not seem to have taken place in the absence of a clergyman, due to the lack of records this made it difficult to estimate how many marriages actually took place. After further research many marriages did take place in front of a clergyman. When this happened the rich obtained a license as proof of their marriage. And those that could not afford a license, the marriage was held in an exempt church or chapel like the Holy Trinity in the Minories or the Savoy Chapel, both of these was located in London. So as you can see there was a valid and justifiable way of marriage before the Council of Trent was formed.

The council of Trent in the Twenty- Fourth session introduced a doctrine on the sacrament of matrimony, in other words formed a doctrine to define the conditions in which one could get married. This doctrine was formed in November 1563 in the final session of the Council. This doctrine was made up of twelve cannons, which can also be referred to as books. The council adopted the decree Tamesti, in which invalidated marriages that did not take place in the presence of the parish priest of one of the couple and of a minimum of two other witnesses. So in other words in order for your marriage to be valid you had to get married in the presence of a priest. There had to be two or more witnesses beside the bride and groom. It had to now be held in a public place and no longer could be held in a private or secret place. This decree stated that clandestine marriages created by the consent of parties are true and sacramental marriages as long as the Church does not invalidate them. Marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman, contracted between two people, which allow them to live together for the rest of their lives. The Catholic Church used the sacrament of matrimony to define a more structured way of getting married. The sacraments of matrimony used the example of husbands look to and treat your wives as God looked at and treated his church. After reading and completing my research, I was wondering if this is still the rules and doctrines of the Catholic Church today. I had the chance to interview a practicing catholic at a current parish in Marietta, Georgia. Petra informed me that these laws and doctrines still hold true today. She explained that when her and her husband was preparing to get married at least one of them had to be a current member of a parish and participating regularly. In order to get married in the Catholic Church she stated that there were certain steps that had to be taken. First both had to take a pretest that was given by the priest of the parish. Next, they had to attend six marriage sessions and one of those sessions was a weekend long session. Last, they had to take a post test that was given by the priest of the parish, and if they did not successfully complete the steps the priest could deny them the right to get married on their set day. Petra did say that the denial from the priest rarely ever happens. One more interesting thing if you are of Catholic Faith and you are seeking a divorce your divorce is not complete until it had been annulled by the priest of your current parish. Not by the judicial system. Being that I am Baptist the only requirements that I had to go through when I got married was the six sessions of counseling. There was not pre and post test for us to take, and if I was to get a divorce it would be valid after it was complete in the court of law.

In conclusion, marriages were already taking place before the council of Trent declared the doctrine of matrimony. The only problem was that the Catholic Church wanted more structure and a more concrete way for getting married, so the Sacrament of matrimony was declared and put into place. No, it was not necessary, because before the Council of Trent Clandestine Marriages were considered to be a valid way of marriage. Although I do agree that the Council of Trent performed a great justice by implementing the sacrament of marriage, and because the Council of Trent made this decree, the marriages this day in time that are followed by the sacrament of matrimony are considered to a valid marriage.

3 Scholary Sources:

Bossy, John "The Counter-Reformation and the People of Catholic Europe" Past and Present, No. 47 (May, 1970), pp.51-70 Stable URL: []

Donahue, Charles "Untitled" The Journal of Modern History, Vol 70, no. 2 (June, 1998), pp. 453-455 Stable URL: []

Article Analysis **// “Clandestine Marriage in England, 1500-1850” Article Analysis //**

**// Focus: //** In this reading Donahue explains in the Middle Ages Clandestine Marriages was the way to get married. When the Council of Trent adopted the decree Tametsi, this made clandestine marriages invalid according to the Roman Catholic Church.


 * || **// Before the Council of Trent //**  ||  **// After the Council of Trent //**  ||
 * ** Ceremony ** ||  The marriages were considered to be Clandestine marriages which consisted of No Clergyman, No license, no witnesses and for children parental consent was not given. These marriages were secret and not held in a public place.  ||  In 1563 the Council of Trent put in place the decree sacrament of matrimony. And in order to get married you had to be in the presence of a priest in a parish, have two witnesses besides the bride and groom, hold the ceremony in a public place, and you had to obtain a license.  ||

//Implications: // In order to make marriage valid and the correct way in the eye sight of God the Council of Trent invalidated clandestine marriages by implementing the decree for the sacrament of matrimony. I feel this was a wonderful decision because it gave structure and to the way the Catholic Church validate marriages.

McNally, Robert "The Council of Trent, The Spiritual Exercises and the Catholic Reform" Church History, Vol. 34, No. 1 (March., 1965), pp. 36-49 Stable URL: []

Article Analysis **// “The Council of Trent, the Spiritual Exercises and the Catholic Reform” Article Analysis //**

**// Focus: //** In this reading McNally’s argument was clearly “No one in Christendom was indifferent to its proceedings, for the issues involved in this Council touched in one way or another the lives of all “ meaning that the Council of Trent was going to affect all Christians because Paul III’s Bull of convocation aptly marked out the purpose of the Council which he was summoning: “to ponder, discuss, execute and bring speedily and happily to the desired result whatever things pertain to the purity and truth of the Christian religion, to the restoration of what is good and the correction of bad morals, to the peace, unity and harmony of Christians among themselves, of the princes as well as of the people.”


 * || **// The Old Church //**  ||  **// The New Church //**  ||
 * ** What was being targeted ** ||  The old church was concerned with church as an organization, or the church as a whole.  ||  The council of Trent was more concerned with the individuals of the church. Work on the individuals and this will bring about a change in the church as a whole.  ||
 * ** Qualifications for teaching church standards ** ||  The old church felt that one needed to have university studies or to be taught by a theologian in order to be a qualified teacher of the church.  ||  Take Loyola for example his book the Spiritual exercises were his personal testimonies and through his personal testimonies and his personal encounters with God he was able to lead and teach people.  ||

**// Implications: //** I agree with McNally, he felt the Council of Trent was a great aspiration t the Catholic Church reform. Even though the council could not accomplish all it was set out to do, it restored spirit and energy t the faltering church. The council took into consideration of the old church laws and doctrines and incorporated it with the new, and thus became the new laws for the Roman Catholic Church.

Additional Sources:

Lindberg, Carter "The European Reformations" Second Edition, (2010) Chapter 14 pp. 338-345.

MacCulloch, Diarmaid "The Reformation" Chapter 5, pp.227-230, Chapter 6, pp.294-296.

