The volume analyses a fundamental aspect of Italian and European History in the 16^th century: the transformation of the Church of Rome following the challenge of Luther. The volume is divided into three parts: the first, chronological, focuses on the transformation process starting with the description of the religious and political situation in the early Sixteenth century; the second part concentrates on institutional figures and centres of decision (papacy, Inquisition, The Council of Trento, Religious Orders) who worked in the Church of Counter Reformation; the third investigates the relationship between the Church and Society.