Church history timeline

  • Period: 85 to 160

    Marcion

    Declared a heretic and excommunicated from the church in Rome. And also rejected Hebrew scriptures.
  • 100

    The Didache

    Oldest christian writing. Visited by meaning teachers and writers.
  • Period: 140 to 155

    Shepard of Hermes

    A freed slave who taught teachings.
  • 170

    Montansim

    Montanists were famous for their strict asceticism and their claim that they received direct revelations from God.
  • Period: 180 to 200

    The Muratorian Canon

    Named after the man who discovered the manuscript in 1740. Also oldest known list of books in the New testament.
  • Period: 197 to 197

    Church fathers

    Second-century writers in the churches.
  • Period: 200 to 250

    Denis

    He was the first bishop of Paris and the patrant saint of France.
  • Period: 216 to 276

    Manichaeism

    The most persistent of the heretical Gnostic movements.
  • Period: 226 to 269

    Valentine

    A priest that was connected to the romantic celebrations that we celebrate today.
  • 251

    On Catholic Unity

    a series of pastoral treatises and letters, provides a
    highly important resource for historians interested in early church life and structure.
  • 251

    The Decian Persecution

    Origen died by being tortured as one of the final victims. Many Christians were persecuted.
  • 252

    Plague in Carthage

    A severe plague hit Carthage It evoked anti-Christian feelings.
  • Period: 255 to 330

    Helena

    The mother of Constantine. A prominent position of authority in the Roman Empire.
  • Period: 260 to 278

    Dionysus

    Became pope in 260. He was one of the most important bishops of the era. He helped restore the church after the Valerian persecution.
  • Period: 285 to 305

    Catherine of Alexandria

    A scholar and virgin martyred in Alexandria
  • Period: 297 to 373

    Athanasius

    The most prominent champion of orthodoxy against Arianism. Became bishop of Alexandria in 328.
  • Period: 303 to 304

    Era of Martyrs

    Diocletian ordered that all churches be torn down.
  • 325

    Easter

    A big problem that the church faced about how to celebrate it.
  • 433

    Nestoranism

    The Nestorian Church formed from the Eastern bishops who refused to accept the Council Of Ephesus.
  • Period: 480 to 524

    Boethius

    He served the Ostrogothic court at Ravenna.
  • Period: 492 to 496

    Pope Gelasius

    first to assume the title "Vicar of Christ." One of the great architects of papal primacy.
  • Period: 500 to 547

    Theodora

    Crowned co-empress in 527. Wife to Justinian.
  • 529

    Emperor Justinian

    In 529 he closed the paganm philosophical schools in Athens and waged a campaign against the
    Montanists, the heretical group still lingering from the second century.
  • Period: 540 to 604

    Gregory the Great

    Gregory became pope in 590. His objections to
    John the Faster stemmed from the conviction that Rome was the
    original see of Peter, and as such it was to Rome that the care of the universal church had been entrusted.
  • Period: 570 to 649

    John Climacus

    A hermit and abbot of the monastery at Mount Sinai, John “the
    Climber” wrote the mystical Ladder of Paradise, widely read by
    Orthodox Christian monks.
  • Period: 580 to 662

    Maximus

    Maximus was a Greek theologian who opposed Monothelitism
    and was eventually banished in 653 when he would not agree to the settlement.
  • Period: 614 to 680

    Hilda

    Hilda was a Northumbrian princess who was baptised by
    Paulinus in 627. In 659 she founded a double monastery for men andwomen, located on the cliffs of Streanshalch.
  • 640

    The invention of the Human Being

    The historical arguments over nuances of creedal definition
    often seem bewildering and irrelevant to modern readers.
  • Period: 690 to 741

    Charles Martel

    The Franks were the most powerful of the Christianised
    Germanic people. Charles Martel was a Frankish ruler
    from 714 who enjoyed support from bishops and other influential
    Christian leaders.
  • 697

    The end of Byzantium

    In 697 and 698 Carthage was under Muslim Arab control. The
    mass exodus of Greek and Roman populations from the city marked the end of Byzantium’s rule in North Africa.
  • 723

    The oak of Thor

    Boniface cut down the sacred tree at Geismar (modern-day
    Fritzlar, Germany) in 723 in front of a hostile crowd. When they saw
    that Boniface was not struck by lightning, the crowd converted to
    Christianity and a chapel was built on the spot.
  • 746

    Boniface

    Boniface was made the first archbishop of Mainz.
  • Period: 750 to 780

    Chinese Christianity

    A monument to Assyrian missionary activity in China, the
    Sian-Fu Stone records that the church in the T’ang dynasty was at its height from 750 to 780.
  • 789

    Vikings

    Constant attacks from Norse Vikings brought chaos
    to the coastal regions of England and Scotland. Monasteries and
    churches were sacked for their wealth, and many people were displaced as a result of the raids.
  • 790

    Donation of Constantine

    Written towards the end of the eighth century, the Donation
    purports to record the gift of land and authority from Emperor
    Constantine I to the pope and his successors.
  • Period: 800 to 803

    Croats

    Prince Viseslav reigned in the Croatian port city of Nin c. 800.
    A Christian, Viseslav was in power when a Frankish bishopric was
    established c. 803 and the Croatians officially became a Christian
    people.
  • Period: 849 to 899

    Alfred the Great

    For Christianity, the last half of the ninth century in England
    was a time of culture and learning set against the backdrop of
    devastating Viking incursions.
  • Period: 878 to 890

    King Guthrum

    In 878 the Danish warlord Guthrum overran Wessex in a
    surprise attack on Alfred’s forces.
  • Period: 907 to 935

    Wencelas

    The Bohemian prince became king in 922 and was known for
    his Christian piety and learning.
  • Period: 945 to 1003

    Pope Sylvester II

    Sylvester became pope in 999, the first Frenchman to hold that
    office.
  • Period: 955 to 1020

    Alferic

    The Benedictine abbot Aelfric is chiefly known for his concern
    to educate English clergy in their own language and for the high
    quality of his writing.
  • Period: 956 to 997

    ADALBERT OF PRAGUE

    Adalbert became bishop of his native Prague in 982. His
    attempts at moral reform led to much opposition from local princes,
    and he was forced from the city in 996.
  • Period: 994 to 1035

    King of Tides

    The Danish warlord Canute (c. 994–1035) conquered England
    in 1016. After his conversion to Christianity, Canute earned a Holy Roman emperor, the German king Henry III convened a council
    in the Italian town of Sutri to settle the dispute between Benedict IX.
  • Period: 1043 to 1086

    Canute the Holy

    Canute IV became king of Denmark in 1080. He was a fervent
    supporter of Christianity and passed laws for the care of the poor and sick.
  • 1093

    Anslem

    Anselm was archbishop of Canterbury in England
  • Period: 1098 to 1179

    Hildegard of Bingen

    A German Benedictine abbess, Hildegard was famous for her
    mystical theology, writing, and wide learning, which included natural
    history, musical compositions, and medicine.
  • Period: 1105 to 1107

    First Crusade

    The crusaders’ ostensible aim had been to defend the
    Byzantine Empire against the Muslim threat, yet conflicts between
    Western and Eastern Christendom continued in the Middle East.
  • Period: 1147 to 1187

    Second Crusade

    The army ransacked Byzantine territory as it marched
    through on its way to Jerusalem, leading to deeper mistrust between East and West.
  • Period: 1150 to 1160

    Third Crusade

    Gregory’s efforts led to European
    truces and the organisation of the Third Crusade under his successor led a crusade against the Finns in the 1150s.
  • Period: 1170 to 1221

    Dominicans

    Dominic 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.
  • 1182

    Maronite Church

    This Syrian Christian church is predominately based in
    Lebanon (where they currently constitute the largest single religious
    group), with members found throughout the Middle East as well as in North and South America.
  • Period: 1182 to 1226

    Franciscans

    Francis of Assisi renounced worldly possessions
    after a pilgrimage to Rome in 1205, after which he founded a society
    for preaching, poverty, and penance in 1209. From 1245 onwards,
    adherents to the original ideal of poverty clashed with moderates who allowed corporate ownership of property.
  • Period: 1207 to 1231

    Elizabeth of Hungary

    The daughter of King Andrew of Hungary, Elizabeth gained a
    reputation from an early age as an extreme ascetic and holy woman.
  • Period: 1211 to 1225

    Teutonic knights

    The German religious and military order was initially founded
    as a hospital order confirmed by Pope Clement III in 1199. The
    knights were active in Hungary and Prussia (from 1231), becoming powerful rulers in their own right.
  • Period: 1308 to 1471

    Thomas A Kempis

    A German priest and mystic, Thomas spent his life in the
    Augustinian monastery at Zwolle where he was a celebrated author
    and spiritual adviser.
  • Period: 1339 to 1410

    Three Popes

    The Great Schism lasted for decades, with successions of popes
    and anti-popes along both lines claiming their legitimacy over the
    other.
  • Period: 1342 to 1413

    Julian of Norwich

    A mystic and anchoress, Julian lived in a cell built into the wall
    of her church
  • Period: 1347 to 1351

    Black death

    This name was given to the bubonic plague that swept through
    China, India, and Europe between 1347 and 1351.
  • Period: 1401 to 1464

    Nicholas of Cusa

    The German priest and theologian was also a celebrated from France to Rome.
  • Period: 1412 to 1431

    Joan of Ark

    This peasant “Maid of Orléans” was born into the context of
    the Hundred Years’ War with England and the ongoing civil strife
    between the great houses of France
  • Period: 1440 to 1505

    Ivan the Great

    Ivan III “the Great” ruled in Russia between 1462
    and 1505. The 1472 marriage between Ivan and Sophia,niece of the last Byzantine emperor, helped strengthen Russia’s claim to be the natural successor to Byzantine Orthodoxy.
  • 1453

    Fall of Constantinople

    The Turks invaded the city of Constantinople by land and sea
    in 1453.
  • Period: 1483 to 1546

    Martin Luther

    Luther was a German priest and theologian. Sometime between
    1512 and 1515 Luther’s reading of Augustine and the apostle Paul led to his conviction that “faith alone justifies without works
  • 1521

    Anabaptist

    “Anabaptist” was the general designation for those reform
    movements that refused to allow infant baptism and insisted on the
    rebaptism of adult believers.
  • Period: 1522 to 1546

    John of Ionnina

    Also known as John the Tailor, 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.
  • Period: 1522 to

    Philothei of Athens

    During the Ottoman period in Greece, many women were
    forced into Turkish harems. The nun Philothei offered sanctuary to
    these women and was killed as a result.
  • 1526

    The New Name

    The First Diet of Speyer in 1526 had determined that each
    prince should be allowed to order church affairs within his sphere of
    influence, thus sanctioning the spread of Lutheranism.
  • Period: 1542 to

    John of the Cross

    A Spanish mystic and doctor of the church, John worked
    closely with Teresa of Ávila in reforming the Carmelite order. He
    wrote on the self’s transformation in the presence of the Divine.
  • Period: 1548 to

    Francisco Suarez

    The Spanish Jesuit pioneered new methods of philosophy
    suited for the contemporary Christian mind.
  • Period: to

    Slavery

    A small band of churchmen stood against the exploitation and
    slavery that came with European colonial expansion.
  • Period: to

    John Bunyan

    As a young Puritan, Bunyan fought in the Civil War. Following
    the Restoration, Bunyan was imprisoned between 1660 and 1672 for his dissenting preaching.
  • Period: to

    Dositheus

    Patriarch since 1669, Dositheus used his considerable influence
    in Orthodoxy to combat Protestant innovations and continue to resist Roman Catholic inroads.