Church History

Sylvester

Period: 945 to 1003

Sylvester became pope in 999, the first Frenchman to hold that
office. An avid reformer, Sylvester assumed responsibility for a
papacy that had been plagued by years of corruption.

Canute

Period: 994 to 1035

Canute (c. 994–1035) conquered England
in 1016. After his conversion to Christianity, Canute earned a reputation as a humble and wise ruler.

Isleifur Gizurarson

Period: 1006 to 1080

(1006–1080) became Iceland’s first bishop in
1056, and his son and successor Gissur (1042–1118) presided as the
second bishop from 1082 until his death.

Normans expanding to Italy

1024

The Normans expanded to Italy.

Pietro Damiani publishes a book.

1050

The Camaldolese hermit-monk Pietro Damiani publishes a book denouncing the moral and sexual corruption of the Church

Bohemond

Period: 1052 to 1111

The Norman prince Bohemond (c.1052–1111) took control of Antioch rather than returning it to the possession of Emperor Alexius I in Constantinople.

Humbert della Silva Candida publishes a book of rules for the popes.

1059

Humbert della Silva Candida publishes the rules by which popes should be elected, restricting the electors to the cardinals and forbidding interference from the Roman nobility or the Holy Roman emperor, and resumes the Donatist heresy (the morality of a priest determines whether he is worthy of administering sacraments).

Hughes de Payens

Period: 1070 to 1136

The Knights Templar were a military religious order founded
by Hughes de Payens (c. 1070–c. 1136) c. 1118 with the original
purpose of protecting crusaders and pilgrims as they traveled to the Holy Lands.

Pope Celestine lll

Period: 1106 to 1198

The Baltic regions (present-day Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) were also subjected to forced conversions and military conquest following the crusade in 1193 sponsored by Pope Celestine III (1106–1198).

Concordat of London compromise

1107

The Concordat of London finds a compromise between England's king Henry I and Pope Pasquale II on the issue of lay investiture (the king elects the bishops).

Dominic

Period: 1170 to 1221

Dominic (1170–1221) had been active in preaching against the
Albigensians since 1203. In 1206, with the support of the bishop of
Toulouse, he founded a teaching convent for women. In 1216 Dominic established the Order of Preachers (also known as Black Friars).

Pope Lucius III excommunicates Peter Waldo

1184

Pope Lucius III excommunicates Peter Waldo, founder of the anti-Cluniac ascetic Waldensians ("poor men of Lyons").

The third crusade

1189

The third Crusade is led by King Richard the Lion-hearted of England, king Philip Augustus II of France, and emperor Frederick Barbarossa

The Teutonic Knights are founded

1190

The Teutonic Knights are founded by German lords to fight in the crusade, establish their capital at Acre, and adopt the Templars' white mantle and the Hospitallers' rule.

Elizabeth of Hungary

Period: 1207 to 1231

The daughter of King Andrew of Hungary, Elizabeth gained a
reputation from an early age as an extreme ascetic and holy woman. When her husband Louis IV of Thuringia died on crusade in 1227, Elizabeth became a Franciscan nun. She served the poor in Marburg, Germany, and was responsible for building one of Europe’s first orphanages.

Pope Innocent lll starts a crusade

1208

Pope Innocent III launches a crusade against the Catharist/Albigensian and the Waldensian heretics

Pope Gregory X

Period: 1210 to 1276

Pope Gregory X (1210–1276) agreed to provide
financial support and check the ambitions of Latin warlords with designs on Constantinople.

The inquisition is established

1231

The Inquisition is established in France to root out the remaining heretics.

Benedict Xl

Period: 1240 to 1304

Boniface died shortly thereafter and his
successor, Benedict XI (1240–1304), held the office for only a year
until 1304.

Pope John XXll

Period: 1249 to 1334

Struggle over property would also become the flash point for
Clement’s successor, except in the case of Pope John XXII
(1249–1334), the owner in question was not a warlord or a king, but Jesus Christ.

The "Summa Contra Gentiles" is published.

1264

the Dominican monk Thomas Aquinas publishes the "Summa Contra Gentiles", that reconciles science and religion.

Francesco Petrach

Period: 1304 to 1374

Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374) is considered the “father of
humanism.” In addition to describing the “Babylonian Captivity” of
the church, he is credited with being the first to label the early
medieval period as the “Dark Ages”.

"Defender of Peace" is published

1324

Franciscan monk Marsilio da Padova publishes "Defender Of Peace", in which he argues that the Church has not authority over secular affairs and that the purpose of a state is to guarantee peace.

Pope Gregory Xll

Period: 1324 to 1417

Italian. Western Schism. Last Pope to abdicate during the Second Millennium AD. Died 18 October 1417.

Pope Gregory Xl dies.

1378

Pope Gregory XI dies and the Roman nobles elect Bartolomeo Prignano as pope Urban VI

Robert de Geneve is elected Pope.

1379

Pope Urban VI's fight against corruption causes the cardinals to move back to Avignon and elect another pope, Robert de Geneve as Clement VII ("Western Schism"), who is recognized by France's allies (Spain and Scotland) but not by France's enemies (England, Portugal, Flanders, Germany, Poland, Hungary).

The Teutonic Knights are defeated.

1410

The Teutonic Knights are defeated by Jagiello's Polish-Lithuanian army at the battle of Tannenberg.

Jan Hus is burned at the stake.

1415

The heretic Jan Hus is burned at the stake at Constance for opposing the sale of indulgences and claiming that the Church is a human invention.

Władysław III

Period: 1424 to 1444

(or Vladislaus, 1424–1444), was convinced to break the Peace of Szeged, the uneasy truce that existed between the Christians and the Turks. Was the king of Hungary and Poland.

Françoise d'Amboise

Period: 1427 to 1485

(29 May 1427 – 4 November 1485). Was a French Roman Catholic declared "blessed" and a duchess consort of Brittany. She took the veil a nun in 1468, when entering the convent of the Three Maries at Vannes.

Leo X

Period: 1475 to 1520

Italian. Son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Closed the Fifth Council of the Lateran. Remembered for granting indulgences to those who donated to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica; excommunicated Martin Luther (1521). Extended the Spanish Inquisition into Portugal.

Alexander Vl forms a Holy League.

1494

Alexander VI forms a "holy league" with Milano, Venezia, German emperor Maximilian, and Fernando II of Aragonia to repel the invasion of Charles VIII of France.

Juan de Padilla

Period: 1500 to 1544

(c. 1500–1544) travelled with colonial explorers into what is modern-day Kansas. The explorers turned back in 1542, but Father Padilla elected to remain amongst the Tíguez people.

Giovanni de' Medici is elected Pope.

1513

The 37-year old Giovanni de' Medici, not yet a priest, is elected pope Leo X.

John of Ioannina

Period: 1522 to 1546

John was a craftsman living in Constantinople under Ottoman rule. Captured by angry apostates because he himself would not recant, he was burnt and beheaded in 1546. John is considered by the Orthodox Church to be a “New Martyr of the Great Captivity.”

Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel

1534

Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace in Rome.

the "Index Expurgatorius" is issued.

1559

Pope Paul IV (a former Grand Inquisitor and practitioner of torture) issues a list of forbidden books, the "Index Expurgatorius".

Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock

1620

English pilgrims aboard the "Mayflower" land at Plymouth Rock on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Russian invasion of Poland.

1648

200,000 Jews are slaughtered during the Russian invasion of Poland by Cossacks led by Bogdan Chmielnicki.

Shabbatai Zvi is hailed as Messiah

1665

The Greek Jewish kabbalist Shabbatai Zvi is hailed as the messiah, but then accepts to convert to Islam to save his life.