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{{topics}}

* Protestant [[Reformation]]

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==Main article==

The Jesuits, founded by the Spanish nobleman and ex-soldier [[Ignatius of Loyola]] (1491-1556), were the most effective of the new Catholic orders. His Societas de Jesus was founded in 1534 and received papal authorization in 1540 under [[Pope Paul III]]. An heir to the devotional, observantine, and legalist traditions, the Jesuits organized their order along military lines, they strongly reflected the autocratic zeal of the period. Characterized by careful selection, rigorous training, and iron discipline, the worldliness of the Renaissance Church had no part in the new order. Loyola's masterwork [[Spiritual Exercises]] reflected the emphasis of handbooks characteristic of the earlier generation of Catholics before the [[Reformation]]. The great psychological penetration that it conveyed was strongly reminiscent of devotionalism. However, the Jesuits are really the heirs to the observantine reform tradition, taking strong monastic vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty and setting an example that improved the effectiveness of the entire Church. They became preachers, confessors to monarchs and princes. Their efforts stemmed [[Protestantism]] in [[Poland]], [[Bohemia]], [[Hungary]], southern [[Germany]], [[France]], and the Spanish Netherlands. They also strongly participated in the expansion of the Church in the [[Americas]] and [[Asia]], conducting efforts in missionary activity that outpaced [[Protestantism]]. Even Loyola's biography contributed to the new emphasis on popular piety that had been waning under the eras of politically oriented popes such as Alexander VI and Leo X. After recovering from a severe battle wound, he took a vow to "serve only God and the Roman pontiff, His vicar on earth." Once again, the emphasis on the [[Pope]] is a key reaffirmation of the Medieval Church as the [[Council of Trent]] firmly defeated all attempts of [[Conciliarism]], the belief that general councils of the church collectively were God's representative on earth, rather than the Pope. Firmly legitimizing the new role of the Pope as an absolute ruler strongly characteristic of the new age of absolutism ushered in by the sixteenth century, the Jesuits strongly contributed to the reinvigoration of the Counter-Reformation Church.

==Links==

{{returnto}} [[Church history]] | [[Roman Catholicism]]