Jews and Heretics in Catholic Poland: A Beleaguered Church in the Post-Reformation EraContrary to the common contention that the Catholic Church triumphed in Counter Reformation Poland, this study reveals that from the rise of the Reformation and the rapid dissemination of its new ideas, the Catholic Church was overcome with a strong sense of insecurity. The beleaguered Church sought to separate Catholics from non Catholics: Jews and heretics. This process helped form a Polish identity that led to racial anti Semitism and to the