Chapter Sixteen. Reform of the church and heresy in the age of Charles V: Reflections of Spain in Italy

Abstract

A tenacious historiographical tradition, which in fact sprang out of the Holy Alliance between Philip II and the papacy in the 1560s and lasted until the late 1900s, has presented Spanish politics in the early modern age as constantly engaged in defending the Christian faith and Catholic orthodoxy. This chapter focuses on the many heterodox ferments that linked Spain to Italy at the time, some of which were destined to leave a profound mark on the religious history of those years. It provides more detail on the cultural and religious connections and suggests possible lines of further inquiry with regard to Church reform and heresy at the time of Charles V. The chapter emphasizes the complex religious culture in Spain in the fifty years before Trent with its strands of prophetic, reformist, and heretical activism and the resonances and resistance it found and reinforced in Italy. Keywords: Charles V; Christian faith; Church reform; heresy; Italy; religious connections; Spain