Protestants, Catholics, and University Education

Higher education was one of the more vital battlegrounds that emerged from the religious conflict of the sixteenth century. On the one hand, education was seen as central in spreading the ideas of the Reformers. On the other hand, the success of the Catholic Reformation emanated from the foundation of seminaries on the Continent. This work explores the denominational division in education with Trinity College Dublin as a case study and with the French Revolution as a backdrop. Because the French Revolution inhibited Catholic educational facilities in Europe, the book explores the extent to which a Protestant institution accommodated Catholic needs domestically. The pattern that emerged in a revolutionary context was to have long-term consequences for higher education in Ireland.