The Council of Trent was a major event in the history of Christianity. It shaped Roman Catholicism's doctrine and practice for the next four hundred years and continues to do so today. The literature on the Council is vast and in numerous languages. This Companion, written by an international group of leading researchers, brings together the latest scholarship on the principal issues treated at the Council: the relationship between Scripture and Tradition, original sin, justification, the sacraments (Baptism, Penance, Confirmation, Eucharist, Holy Orders, Marriage, and the Annointing of the Sick), sacred images, sacred music, and its reform of religious orders, the training of the clergy, the provision of pastoral care in the parish setting, and the implementation of its decrees. The volume demonstrates that the Council unwittingly furthered the papal centralization of authority by allowing the interpretation of its decrees to be the exclusive prerogative of the Holy See, and entrusting it with their implementation.

The Fifth Lateran Council (1512-17), whose 500th anniversary is being commemorated, has left a legacy little studied by scholars. The council's status as an ecumenical council was questioned by its opponents and its decrees ignored, resisted, or only slowly implemented. This new collection of articles by Nelson H. Minnich examines: what is an ecumenical council, the reasons Lateran V qualifies as such, the roles the popes played in it, the council as a theater for demonstrating papal power, what was proposed as its agenda, what decrees were issued, and to what extent they were implemented. The decrees that receive special attention are those: affirming the legitimacy of the credit organizations known as montes pietatis that charged management fees, imposing prepublication censorship on printed works, abrogating the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), reining in the privileges of mendicant friars, and closing the council while imposing a crusade tithe. These decrees were gradually implemented and Carlo Borromeo incorporated some of the Lateran reform decrees into his conciliar legislation that was taken up by other bishops. Lateran V did leave a lasting legacy and Leo X considered the council one of his great achievements. The volume includes four studies not previously published in English.

The Council of Trent was a major event in the history of Christianity. It shaped Roman Catholicism's doctrine and practice for the next four hundred years and continues to do so today. The literature on the Council is vast and in numerous languages. This Companion, written by an international group of leading researchers, brings together the latest scholarship on the principal issues treated at the Council: the relationship between Scripture and Tradition, original sin, justification, the sacraments (Baptism, Penance, Confirmation, Eucharist, Holy Orders, Marriage, and the Annointing of the Sick), sacred images, sacred music, and its reform of religious orders, the training of the clergy, the provision of pastoral care in the parish setting, and the implementation of its decrees. The volume demonstrates that the Council unwittingly furthered the papal centralization of authority by allowing the interpretation of its decrees to be the exclusive prerogative of the Holy See, and entrusting it with their implementation.

The Fifth Lateran Council (1512-17), whose 500th anniversary is being commemorated, has left a legacy little studied by scholars. The council's status as an ecumenical council was questioned by its opponents and its decrees ignored, resisted, or only slowly implemented. This new collection of articles by Nelson H. Minnich examines: what is an ecumenical council, the reasons Lateran V qualifies as such, the roles the popes played in it, the council as a theater for demonstrating papal power, what was proposed as its agenda, what decrees were issued, and to what extent they were implemented. The decrees that receive special attention are those: affirming the legitimacy of the credit organizations known as montes pietatis that charged management fees, imposing prepublication censorship on printed works, abrogating the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), reining in the privileges of mendicant friars, and closing the council while imposing a crusade tithe. These decrees were gradually implemented and Carlo Borromeo incorporated some of the Lateran reform decrees into his conciliar legislation that was taken up by other bishops. Lateran V did leave a lasting legacy and Leo X considered the council one of his great achievements. The volume includes four studies not previously published in English. (CS1060).

This new collection by Nelson Minnich deals with the general councils of the Catholic Reformation in the late medieval and early modern periods. The volume opens with overviews of the various editions of and current scholarship on these general councils. Three studies then give special attention to the role of theologians in these councils: their changing legal status (consultative or deliberative voting rights) and their individual roles and those of the various theological schools in drafting the decrees. Another article examines the legal status of theologians accused of heresy and schism. Two examine the contest between the councils of Pisa-Milan-Asti-Lyon and Lateran V for legitimacy, studying in particular the contrasting image of Julius II (suspended for contumacy by Pisa but the strong leader of Lateran V) and the role ceremonies played in securing legitimacy. Last, there are three studies devoted to the Council of Trent: the status of the Protestants who came to the council, its debates on the priesthood of all believers, and the influence of Lateran V on its procedures, debates, and decrees.

When Martin Luther distributed his 95 Theses on indulgences on October 31, 1517, he set in motion a chain of events that profoundly transformed the face of Western Christianity. The 500th anniversary of the 95 Theses offered an opportunity to reassess the meaning of that event. The relation of the Catholic Church to the Reformation that Luther set in motion is complex. The Reformation had roots in the late-medieval Catholic tradition and the Catholic reaction to the Reformation altered Catholicism in complex ways, both positive and negative. The theology and practice of the Orthodox church also entered into the discussions. A conference entitled "Luther and the Shaping of the Catholic Tradition," held at The Catholic University of America, with thirteen Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant speakers from Germany, Finland, France, the Vatican, and the United States addressed these issues and shed new light on the historical, theological, cultural relationship between Luther and the Catholic tradition. It contributes to deepening and extending the recent ecumenical tradition of Luther-Catholic studies.

This collection of essays is taken from the pages of The Catholic Historical Review, the official organ of the American Catholic Historical Association and the only scholarly journal under Catholic auspices in the English-speaking world devoted to the history of the Universal Church. Journeys in Church History offers reflections from six leading contemporary church historians, who describe in their own words how they have come to practice their craft. They trace their family and educational backgrounds, the themes that attracted their attention, the challenges they encountered in researching them, the new methodologies they adopted to answer questions, and the reception given to their findings. They also tell of their experiences in the classroom, both as students and teachers, the difficulties they encountered in their careers due to prejudices based on gender or religion, and how the discipline of church history has changed over their lifetimes. Their often entertaining accounts will serve to inform and inspire fellow historians, both young and old. The contributors to this volume are: Elizabeth Clark, who pioneered studies of the role of women in the early Church. Caroline Bynum showed how Christians viewed gender and the human body. Jean Delumeau studies the religious attitudes (mentalite) of the ordinaryfaithful and how these were shaped during the medieval and early modern periods. John W. O'Mally documents that Renaissance humanism was not pagan but profoundly Christian. The promotion of institutions of higher education under the auspices of the Catholic Church in America has been studied by J. Philip Gleason. Margaret Lavinia Anderson was among the first to use computers to analyze voting patterns in modern Germany and thus determine the influence of the Center Party.