ON ROUGH GROUND. RESISTANCES AND LIMITS OF THE TRIDENTINE REFORM UNDER PHILIP II.

The application of the norms dictated by the Council of Trent was not easy in any territory and in any sphere, especially in the personal and private sphere. It was up to Philip II to enforce them in the different areas of the Hispanic monarchy, very unequal in their conditions and circumstances. Those who presented the greatest resistance were, in general, those farthest from the court and the most rural. Even more so those located in the northern and northwestern fringe of the Peninsula, which are the focus of this book, whose demographic, social and cultural characteristics made it difficult for both the monarchy and the Church to exercise power. The ways of understanding community, neighborhood, family and kinship, personal ties, values and practices related to life were deeply rooted and imposed very clear limits to the novelties that both Philip II and the bishops he appointed wanted and had to implement in order to comply with the conciliar mandates. In order to observe these resistances and limits, this work takes as an indicator the degree of fulfillment of the sacraments related to the life of the people: baptism, confirmation, marriage and priestly orders.