Final answer:
Key figures in promoting the Counter-Reformation included Pope Paul III and the Jesuits, led by Ignatius of Loyola. The Council of Trent and influential artists like Michelangelo also played significant roles in the movement.
Step-by-step explanation:
Key figures who were instrumental in promoting the Counter-Reformation were leaders within the Catholic Church who responded to the spread of Protestantism. Pope Paul III, who convened the Council of Trent in 1545, played a critical role, as did the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, founded by Ignatius of Loyola. This group was established to support the papal authority and enhance Catholic education. The Jesuits were key missionaries, spreading Catholic belief worldwide, in direct opposition to the growing Protestant movements. Artists like Michelangelo and their artwork also served as tools for religious expression and propelling the ideals of the Counter-Reformation.
The Counter-Reformation was essentially a movement within the Catholic Church to reform its practices and respond to the Protestant Reformation by affirming Catholic doctrine, improving clergy education, and reforming the church's structural and spiritual matters, thereby retaining and regaining its flock.