This revival and reform of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe took place during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. While inspired partly by the Lutheran and Calvinist movements, the major impetus came from within the Catholic Church itself. The idea was to correct abuses within the Catholic Church, reformulate doctrines, and organize opposition to the rise of Protestantism. It is also known as the Catholic Reformation. Return to Theme

The Counter-Reformation or Catholic Reformation was a movement within the Catholic Church to reform itself and to protect itself from Protestant attacks, starting with the middle of the sixteenth century, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation.