Editing Council of Trent (section)

==== Third period ====

The council was reconvened by [[Pope Pius IV]] (1559–1565) for the last time, meeting from 18 January 1562 at [[Santa Maria Maggiore, Trento|Santa Maria Maggiore]], and continued until its final adjournment on 4 December 1563. It closed with a series of ritual acclamations honouring the reigning Pope, the Popes who had convoked the council, the emperor and the kings who had supported it, the papal legates, the cardinals, the ambassadors present, and the bishops, followed by acclamations of acceptance of the faith of the council and its decrees, and of anathema for all heretics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct25.html|title=CT25 |website= History Hanover}}</ref>

The French monarchy boycotted the entire council until the last minute when a delegation led by [[Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine|Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine]] finally arrived in November 1562. The first outbreak of the [[French Wars of Religion#The "first" war (1562–1563)|French Wars of Religion]] had occurred earlier in the year and the French Church, facing a significant and powerful Protestant minority in France, experienced [[iconoclasm]] violence regarding the use of sacred images.  Such concerns were not primary in the Italian and Spanish Churches.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lindberg |first=Carter |title=The European Reformations, 3rd Edition |date= |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd. |year= |isbn=9781119640745 |edition=3rd |location= |publication-date= |pages=27 |language=English}}</ref> The last-minute inclusion of a decree on sacred images was a French initiative, and the text, never discussed on the floor of the council or referred to council theologians, was based on a French draft.<ref>O'Malley, 32–36</ref>