Charles Quint face aux Réformes (review)

The colloquium papers presented here are more than just a postscript to the quincentenary celebrations in 2000 of the birth of Charles Quint. Concentrating on Charles's involvement in the seething religious questions of the period, they provide an insight into the rapidly evolving politico-religious situation in which the King and Emperor did not always have the full control which he would have liked. The colloquium concerned 'les Réformes' — not only Luther but also other forms of Protestantism — and also the nebula of humanist and spiritual reforms of which Erasmus was the symbol, and the ongoing demands, at least since the Councils of the early fifteenth century, for a reform of the Church of Rome. A multiplicity of questions, then, and a multiplicity of geographical situations—Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, the Empire, Italy (the New World, alas, has been consciously omitted from the scope of the proceedings) — which led potentially to a variety of policies. Given such a vast and complex subject, only individual soundings are possible in the space of 200 pages. However, the nine papers on offer are grouped round certain major themes. After Guiseppe Galasso's study of 'Valdés et Naples' the papers are grouped in pairs: Juan Carlos d'Amico and Gérald Chaix study representations of the Emperor in Italian poetry on the one hand, in frontispieces, dedications and portraits on the other. Two papers (Raphaël Carrasco and Vincent Parello) analyse aspects of the Spanish Inquisition in its evolution from its original purpose in the eradication of Judaïsm to the (much later) repression of 'Lutherans'. Alexander Koller and Olivier Poncet study the interplay of Charles with Rome, respectively in the role of Papal representatives in the Interim and the Peace of Augsburg (the latter was only accepted because of multiple misunderstandings and mistimings from Rome), and in Charles's policy in the appointment of bishops (a complicated subject given the disparity of Charles's dominions). Finally, Hugo de Schepper and Aline Goosens present aspects of Charles's religious policy in the Netherlands (Schepper on the fluctuation between rigour and clemency, Goosens from the point of view of the victims of persecution and the Protestant martyrologies of the period). These seemingly disparate contributions are bound together by two masterly essays, the introduction by Alain Tallon which economically sets out the problématique of the subject, and a brilliant concluding synthesis by Arlette Jouanna, in which she picks out three underlying themes of the colloquium: how did, indeed how could, Charles perceive the profound religious changes which occurred during his reign? What actions did he take on the basis of that perception — was a variety of solutions voluntarily adopted or was it thrust upon him? And what were the perceptions of his actions in the minds of his contemporaries? While these papers do not claim to provide full answers, the book is none the less rich in lines of thought and directions for future research. It is a worthy contribution to the series of Colloques Jean Boisset excellently organized by the University of Montpellier III.