bishops, archbishops, and papal legates
(representatives), who convened to make
decisions on church doctrine and cer-
emony and to oppose the spread of the
Protestant Reformation. The council met
at the northern Italian city of Trent be-
tween 1545 and 1563. It refuted Martin
Luther’s ideas on the importance of cer-
tain books of the Bible, condemned the
idea of grace by faith alone, and affirmed
the traditional nature of the seven church
sacraments. The council set down the lit-
urgy of a standard Catholic Mass, known
as the Tridentine Mass, and held that
Christ was actually present in the bread
and wine of the ceremony. It affirmed the
rule of celibacy for priests, the need for
infant baptism (which some Protestant
sects considered optional), upheld the doc-
trine of purgatory and the veneration of
relics, created an Index of forbidden
books, and set down strict guidelines for
marriage and divorce. The decrees of the
council were ratified by Pope Pius IV in a
papal bull of 1564. The council con-
demned the ideas of the Reformation and
reserved to the church the right to punish
Protestant heresy as it saw fit; many of its
proclamations and decrees have been af-
firmed by the modern Catholic Church.
courtesan ...........................................
A courtesan was a professional mistress, a
prostitute of the highest rank who pro-
vided her services and companionship to
wealthy nobles or rulers. Courtesans were
popular among Renaissance aristocrats and
royalty, whose marriages were often ar-
ranged for the political or financial gain of
their families. With love an emotion that
often remained outside of a legal marriage,
the use of courtesans by husbands was of-
ten accepted by their wives, who were
much more restricted in their actions, their
living conditions, and their ability to cir-
culate in society.
Many women who became courtesans
began as common streetwalkers or brothel
workers, who welcomed members of the
middle class, artisans, and travelers (some
brothels were disguised as convents). Pros-
titutes in most Italian cities were regis-
tered, taxed, and regulated by law. Through
intelligence, manners, and a good appear-
ance, they gained a safer and more presti-
gious place in a court through the spon-
sorship of a man of high rank. Such
courtesans were valued for their ability to
converse with powerful and intelligent
men and put them at ease. In some cases a
highly valued courtesan was shared among
a group of men, each of whom reserved
her company on a certain night of the
week. The life of a courtesan was always
tenuous, however, as her career depended
on gaining the trust and support of pa-
trons. The alliance between a nobleman
and a courtesan could end suddenly on
the gentleman’s whim, leaving the courte-
san again with no place of business but
the streets.
There were two kinds of courtesans in
Italy: the higher rank belonged to the
“honest courtesan,” a partner for enter-
tainment and intellectual discussion, who
was educated and often talented as a
writer, singer, or musician. Thecortigiana
di lumewas a lower-class courtesan, one
who took on all manner of customers,
showed no special talent or intellectual
ability, and who were generally looked at
as prostitutes.
The honest courtesan was supported
with gifts of money and other valuables,
and sometimes property. In the drive to
improve their circumstances, some mar-
ried women engaged in the profession with
the full knowledge and support of theircourtesan