# Council of Trent Concludes (4 December 1563)

URL: https://allhistories.com/andorra/timeline/1563-council-of-trent-concludes
Location: Trento, Italy
Themes: Key Events

The Council of Trent, convened by Pope Paul III in 1545, met in three periods over almost two decades to answer the Protestant Reformation. It defined Catholic doctrine on scripture, sacraments and grace, and ordered sweeping reforms of clerical discipline, preaching and pastoral care. The council closed on 4 December 1563. Its decrees required bishops to reside in their dioceses, to visit their parishes regularly, to found seminaries and to supervise the conduct and education of the clergy. Parish priests were to keep registers of baptisms and marriages. In the diocese of Urgell, as elsewhere in Catalonia, successive bishops undertook pastoral visitations of the mountain parishes, including those of Andorra, whose priests depended on the bishop as both spiritual pastor and co-lord. The Tridentine reforms reinforced the Catholic identity of Andorra at a time when its secular co-lords were Protestant. Sacramental registers in Andorran parishes, the renovation of churches and the promotion of devotions such as that to the Virgin of Meritxell belong to this broader Catholic Reformation, which shaped religious life in the valleys until modern times.

## Why it matters
Trent's reforms strengthened the Bishop of Urgell's pastoral hold over Andorra and its Catholic identity.

Ruler at the Time: [Pere de Castellet](https://allhistories.com/andorra/rulers/pere-de-castellet)

Queen of Navarre, Countess of Foix, Co-Lady of Andorra: Jeanne d'Albret

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Council of Trent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent)
- [Bisbat d'Urgell](https://www.bisbaturgell.org/)
- [Wikipedia — The Paréages And The House Of Foix (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paréage_of_Andorra_(1278))