The
Counter-Reformation (also the
Catholic Revival or
Catholic Reformation) was the period of
Catholic resurgence beginning with the
Council of Trent (1545–1563) and ending at the close of the
Thirty Years' War (1648), and was initiated in response to the
Protestant Reformation. The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort composed of four major elements:
- Ecclesiastical or structural reconfiguration
- Religious orders
- Spiritual movements
- Political dimensions