The refashioning of Catholicism, 1450-1700 : a reassessment of the Counter Reformation

Unlike the traditional terms counter-Reformation or Catholic reform, this book does not see Catholicism from 1450 to 1700 primarily in relationship to the Protestant Reformation, but as both shaped by the revolutionary changes of the early modern period and actively refashioning itself in response to these changes: the emergence of the early modern state economic growth and social dislocation; the expansion of Europe across the seas during the Renaissance; and the Protestant Reformation.

Bireley devotes particular attention to new methods of evangelization in the old world and the new, education at the elementary, secondary and university levels, the new active religious orders of women and men, and the effort to create a spirituality for the Christian living in the world.

A final chapter looks at the issues raised by Machiavelli, Galileo and Pascal.