Trent, tiiI': Council of {Concilinni Ti'idcniinnm), was belli in Trent, a city of Tyrol, Austria, on the left bank of the Adige. It has a cathedral binlt entirely of marble in the Byzantine style. In the Church of St. Maria Maggiore are the portraits of the members of the council, which was held in this building. This council was first convoked June 2. 1536. by pope Paul HI, to be held at JMantua, May 23, 1537. Subsecpiently, the duke of ;\Iantua liaving refused to permit the assembling of the coimcil in that city, the pope prorogued the meet- ing to November, without naming any place. After- wards, by another bull, he prorogued it till May. 1538, and named Vicenza as the place of assembly; nomi- nating in the meatitime certain cardinals and prelates to look into the question of reform, who, in consequence, drew 11)1 a long report upon the subject, in which they divide the abuses needing correction into two heads:
1. Those concerning the Church in general.
2. Those peculiar to the Church of Kimie.
When the time arrived, however, not a single bishop appeared at Vicenza; whereupon the pope again pro- rogued the cotuicil to I*>astcr, 1539, and sid)sequently for- bade its assembling until he shoidd signify his pleasure upon the subject. At last, at the end of three years, in the year 1542, after much dispute lietween the pope, the emperor, and the other princes in the lioman com- m\inion as to the place in which the council should be holden, the pope's |)roposition that it sliould take place at Trent was agreed to; whereupon the bull was pub- lished, iMay 22, convoking the council to Trent on Nov. I in that year. .Subsequently he named, as his legatee
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in the council, cardinal John del Monte, bishop of Pal- estrina; the cardinal-priest of Sainte-Croix, INIarcellus Cervinus ; and the cardinal-deacon Keginakl Pole. How- ever, ditKculties an)se, which caused the openiiii; of the coinicil to be further delayed, and tlie first meeting was uot iield until December, 1545. The ijTeat, importance of this council in the history of the liefonnation, and in Komau Catholic doctrine since, justilies an unusually full treatment of it here.
Session /(Dec. 13, 1545). — When the council was opened there were present tiie three legates, four arch- bishops, and twenty-two bisiiops, in iheir |ionti(ical vest- ments. Mass was said by the cardinal del Monte, and a sermon preached by the bishop of Bitonte; after which the bull i;iven Nov. 19, 1544, anil that of February, 1545, were read, and cardinal del Monte explained the ob- jects which were proposed in assemblinf^ tlie council, viz. the extirpation of heresv, the re-establishment of ecclesiastical discipline, the reformation of morals, and the restoration of peace and unity. _ Oil Dec. 18 and 22 congregations were held, in which some discussion arose about the care and oriler to be ob- served by prelates in their life and behavior during tiie council.
On Jan. 5 another congress was held, in wliich cardi- nal del Monte proposed that the order to be observed in conducting the business of the council should be the same with that at the last Council of Lateran, where the examination of the ditl'erent matters had been in- trusted to different bishops, who for that purpose had been divided into three classes; and when the decrees relating to any matter had been drawn up, they were submitted to the consideration of a general congrega- tion; so that all was done without any disputing and discussion in the sessions. A dispute arose in tliis con- gregation about the style to be given to the council in tiie decrees. The pope had decreed that they shouUi rini in this form, "The Holy Gicumenical and General Council of Trent, the Legates of the Apostolic See pre- siding;" but the Galilean bishops, and many of the Span- iards and Italians, insisted tliat the words "representing tlie Universal Church" should be added. This, however, the legates refused, remembering that such had been the form used in the councils of Constance and Basle, and fearing lest, if this addition were made, the rest of the form of Constance and Basle might follow, viz., " which derives its power immediately from .Jesus Christ, and to which every person, of whatever dignity, not ex- cepting the pope, is bound to yield obedience."
/Session II (Jan. 7, 1546). — At this session fort)'-three prelates were present. A bull was read prohibiting the )iroctors of absent prelates to vote; also another, exhort- ing all the faithfid then in Trent to live iu the fear of (iod, and to fast and pray. The learned were exhorted to give their attentiiui to the question how the rising heresies could be best extinguished. The question about the style of the council was again raised.
In the following congregation, .Jan. 1.3, the same ques- tion was again debated. Nothing was settled in this matter, au<l they then proceeded to deliberate upon which of the three subjects proposed to be discussed in the council (viz. the extirpation of heresy, the reforma- tion of discipline, and the restoration of peace) should be first handled. Three prelates were appointed to ex- amine the procuration papers and excuses of absent bishops.
In the next congregation the deliberations on the subject to be tirst proposed in the council were resimied. Some wished that the question of reform should be first opened; others, on the contrary, maintained that ques- tions relating to the faith demanded immediate notice. A third party, among whom was Thomas Campeggio, bishop of Felfri, asserted that the two questions of doc- trine and reformation were inseparable, and must be treated of together. This latter opinion ultimately pre- vailed, but at the moment the sense of the assemblv was so divided that no decision was arrived at.