Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), Jesuit, Cardinal, and doctor of the Church, was one of the most influential theologians and political writers in Europe in the years following the Reformation. He sparred with Protestants, heretics, and other Catholics (including Pope Sixtus V, who tried to get some of Bellarmine’s work placed on the Index, but failed) and was a powerful force in the Congregation of the Inquisition.
Bellarmine was deeply enmeshed in the controversies of his time, and was a forceful proponent of the Catholic position against religious as well as political opponents, such as King James VI and I, who promulgated the Oath of Allegiance in 1606, which raised complicated theological and political questions for Catholics in the United Kingdom.
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