Editing History of Austria (section)

===== Counter-Reformation (1545–1563) =====
The Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation was a conservative one, but one that did address the issues raised by Luther. In 1545 the long running [[Council of Trent]] began its work of reform and a [[Counter-Reformation]] on the borders of the Habsburg domains. The Council continued intermittently until 1563. Ferdinand and the Austrian Habsburgs were far more tolerant than their Spanish brethren, and the process initiated at [[Trento|Trent]]. However his attempts at reconciliation at the Council in 1562 was rejected, and although a Catholic counteroffensive existed in the Habsburg lands from the 1550s it was based on persuasion, a process in which the Jesuits and [[Peter Canisius]] took the lead. Ferdinand deeply regretted the failure to reconcile religious differences before his death (1564).{{Sfn|Beller|2006|p=53}}