The Counter-Reformation (also the Catholic Revival or Catholic Reformation) was the period of Catholic resurgence beginning with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War (1648), and was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort composed of four major elements:

1. Ecclesiastical or structural reconfiguration
2. Religious orders
3. Spiritual movements
4. Political dimensions