Early-Modern Catholicism as a Response to the Changing World of the Long Sixteenth Century

The early-modern period constitutes a distinct period in European history, and early-modern Catholicism can best be understood as Catholicism’s response, both active and passive, to the changes of the long sixteenth century. These included the emergence of the modern state, demographic and economic expansion along with social dislocation, the outreach of Europe across the seas to Asia and America, the intellectual and cultural currents of the Renaissance, and the Protestant Reformation. Thus, early-modern Catholicism rates as a distinct period in the Church’s history, and it fits into the pattern of Catholicism’s regular accommodation to changing culture and society, an accommodation that is often contested but is necessary if the Church is to meet the needs of the times.