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476
Fall of the western Roman Empire
Its fall was not due to one cause, although many search for one. The loss of revenue for the western half of the empire could not support an army - an army that was necessary for defending the already vulnerable borders. Continual warfare meant trade was disrupted; invading armies caused crops to be laid to waste, poor technology made for low food production, the city was overcrowded, unemployment was high, and lastly, and there were always the epidemics. Also barbarian raids on Rome. -
529
Benedict of Nursia
Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint, who is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion and Old Catholic Churches. He is a patron saint of Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Nursia -
610
Muhammad founds a new religion called Islam
A man meditating alone in a cave near Mecca received a religious vision. This vision laid the foundations for a new religion. The year was 610 and the man's name was Muhammad. And the belief system that arose from Muhammad's ideas became the basis of one of the world's most widely practiced religions: Islam. http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4i.asp -
800
Charlemagne crowned Roman emperor by Pope Leo III
Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king, Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day, 800 in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, making him the most powerful ruler of his time.
http://www.dw.com/en/charlemagne-is-crowned-emperor-december-25-800/a-4614858-1 -
1054
Great Schism between the church in the West and the East
The final break came in 1054 in what is known as the Great Schism. On 16 June of that year, Pope Leo IX excommunicated Orthodox Patriarch Michael Cerularius for “trying to humiliate and crush the holy catholic and apostolic church.” The Patriarch then excommunicated Pope Leo. This mutual excommunication marks the formal break between Eastern and Western Christianity. -
Period: 1095 to 1291
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. The bloody, violent and often ruthless conflicts propelled the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East. -
Period: 1140 to 1217
Peter Waldo and the Waldensians
Peter Waldo was a wealthy and educated merchant from Lyons, France.
He was visiting with some friends, when after supper, one of the men suddenly collapsed and died. This immanent encounter with death left a tremendous impression upon him, and he began to seek for truth.
Waldo was also convicted by Christ’s words to the rich young ruler, “Go sell all you have, give to the poor, and come, take up your cross and follow me.” -
1209
Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi abandoned a life of luxury for a life devoted to Christianity after reportedly hearing the voice of God, who commanded him to rebuild the Christian church and live in poverty. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment. -
1255
Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas was born sometime between 1224 and 1226 in Roccasecca, Italy, near Naples.
Thomas began his theological studies at the University of Naples in the fall of 1239. In the 13th century, training in theology at the medieval university started with additional study of the seven liberal arts, namely, the three subjects of the trivium and the four subjects of the quadrivium, as well as study in philosophy. -
Period: 1348 to 1351
Bubonic plague (Black Death)
The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October 1347 when 12 Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a long journey through the Black Sea. Strangest of all, they were covered in mysterious black boils that oozed blood and pus and gave their illness its name: the “Black Death.” Over the next five years, the mysterious Black Death would kill more than 20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-death