COUNTER-REFORMATION OR CATHOLIC REFORMATION?

BY THE TIME Esquivel announced his publications to the world in 1608, the roots of the Counter-Reformation had been firmly established for over a century. A Spain united by Ferdinand and Isabella had championed the cause of a militant Catholicism which, largely through Spain's isolation from the rest of Europe and the establishing of the Inquisition in 1478, set itself on a collision course with the Protestant challenge which emerged during the course of the early sixteenth century. Charles V and his son, Philip II, sought to build on the achievements of their predecessors, further consolidating the monarchy's power base and control of national institutions, and rooting out heresy in face of the Protestant threat. By the end of the sixteenth century the Church in Spain was an institution effectively under the control of the monarchy: it was a Church with a mission and a strong power base; a Church firm in its doctrines.

Esquivel was born towards the end of the sixteenth century – towards the end of a period that saw an extraordinary burst of creative energy resulting in an abundance of religious works of art, architecture, music, philosophy, poetry and prose writings. Yet the same age produced appalling acts of violence, cruelty and oppression, all in the name of religion. How can these apparent contradictions be reconciled? An answer to this question is beyond the scope of this study, but what we can say is that without the intensity of religious belief found in the Spanish Church in the sixteenth century, and the need to give it expression in art, music and literature, our world would be greatly impoverished. Such was the power and magnitude of the artistic achievements of Spain in its Golden Age – the age of the Counter-Reformation.

Before delving further into events which formed the backdrop to Esquivel's work as a cathedral musician, we need to examine this term, Counter-Reformation, which has long been a cause of hot dispute amongst historians. Used as a convenient means of indicating a distinctive historical period, it has been described as a ‘Johnny-comelately’ in the lexicon of European periodisation since the term was not invented until the 1770s; and not until the 1860s was it accepted universally to signify a single phenomenon with global significance.