Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c78cf97d-d2fvj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-23T15:22:21.212Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The Organizational Structure of the Council of Trent

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2023

Nelson H. Minnich
Affiliation:
Catholic University of America, Washington DC
Get access

Summary

The council both followed precedents and created new ways of managing its affairs. It abandoned the “nations” and deputation structures of Konstanz and Basel in favor of classes, particular congregations of “minor theologians,” and congregations of prelate-theologians and of prelate-canonists, while retaining the general congregatons andformal sessions. Papal legates, whose powers increased with time, determined the agenda and presided over the proceedings. An effort is made to determine the numbers and nationalities of the participants for each of the three periods. The reasons for the failed participation of Protestants and Eastern Christians are explored.

Information

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×