The Ashgate Research Companion to the Counter-Reformation.

Worcester, Thomas

THE ASHGATE RESEARCH COMPANION TO THE COUNTER-REFORMATION. Edited by Alexandra Bamji, Geert H. Janssen, and Mary Laven. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013. Pp. xix + 488. $149.95.

Spurning the term "Early Modern Catholicism," a nomenclature favored in recent decades by John O'Malley and many scholars of Catholicism between the Renaissance and Enlightenment, the editors of this research companion opt for the older "Counter-Reformation" to highlight Catholic opposition to the Protestant Reformation. Yet there is relatively little here about such opposition or conflict; rather, in some 25 essays by scholars ranging from a postdoctoral fellow to senior professors, the three editors, all based in British universities, gather together excellent summaries of recent research on topics as diverse as missions to Asia and the Americas; lay spirituality; Catholic music, art, drama, material culture, and holiness; the Catholic life cycle, landscape, and community; the Inquisition; and "Tridentine" Catholicism. Each essay concludes with a select bibliography that provides a gateway for exploring the current state of a given subject or question.

All the essays are worthy contributions, but let me highlight the ones I found especially interesting. Mary Laven's introductory essay and final essay (the latter on the legacies of Counter-Reformation Catholicism) work well both to frame this collection and to whet the reader's intellectual appetite. Essays by Karin Velez on the Americas, Nicholas Terpstra on the laity, and Andrea Lepage on art also stand out. Velez offers fascinating examples from Latin America and French Canada for her argument: Catholic missions were spaces of encounter and created bridges between European and Native American cultures. From the titles of many of the essays one might draw the conclusion that clergy and religious orders are given short shrift in favor of lay experience of religion. But this is not always so. Although the Jesuits are not mentioned in any essay title, they appear in nearly every essay, and in several essays (e.g., Velez's) on nearly every page. Scholarly work on the history of the Jesuits from their founding in 1540 to their (temporary) suppression in 1773 has seen a huge upsurge in the past quarter century. This Research Companion spreads the upsurge across all the essays rather than covering it in any one essay or group of essays.

Of the three editors, Bamji and Laven are women and specialists on Italy (Venice in particular), while the third, Janssen, is known for his work on the Dutch republic. How did they decide what to emphasize and what to leave out of this collection? Not surprisingly, Italy is well covered. But rather than any geographic skewing of focus, what stands out is the scant attention to some of the most prominent female Catholic reformers and founders of reformed or new religious orders or congregations, such as Angela Merici, Jane de Chantal, or Louise de Marillac. Bernini's famous sculpture, Ecstasy of St. Teresa, is featured, but otherwise Teresa of Avila gets less attention than many readers will expect, especially given that the Catholic Church declared her a doctor of the church, and given the recent, abundant scholarly work on her and on convent life ca. 1450-1750. The reform decrees of the Council of Trent dealt above all with reform of the episcopate. Therefore recent scholarly works on bishops and their implementation of its decrees are not lacking. Similarly, we have abundant material about the lack of implementation of Trent's reform agenda. Trent sought to make bishops resident pastors and good shepherds who preached regularly and taught their flocks Christian doctrine, and who visited their dioceses and replaced incompetent and immoral priests with sober, seminary-educated models of virtue and chastity.

While the Jesuits get plenty of attention in this volume, bishops and diocesan clergy have to make do with far fewer references. Even Francis de Sales, model bishop and best-selling author in his time, gets but a passing mention. Types of publications that are given little attention here are recent editions of primary sources from the early modern period, and electronic versions of any sources, primary or secondary. As it is, the book runs some 500 pages; choices had to be made to stay within this limit, and though some choices may be contested, the editors deserve much praise for a valuable work that will assist and guide scholarship in an ever-expanding and exciting field.

THOMAS WORCESTER, S.J.

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA