RELg 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
Time Line, events and characters leading up to the Reformation
The Time-Line below is given so that you may get an idea of who lived when, and how their lives, actions, and ideas were inter-twined.
- 1337 - 1453 : The Hundred Years' War
- Between England and France, caused by Edward III of England claiming the French crown, and giving himself the title "King of France", The war was fought mainly in France. There were some outstanding English victories at Crécy (1346), Poitiers (1356), Agincourt (1415). The war ended with England giving up all territory that had been gained in France, except for the port of Calais. Generations of young men were killed, and the countries were exhausted. The net gain was one town, which was lost to the French in 1558
- 1347 - 1351 : The Black Death
- Probably bubonic plague, killed about a third of the population of Europe and contributed to the break-down of society
- 1356
- The English Parliament refused to pay feudal taxes to the Pope
- 1369 - 1415 : Jan Huss
- 1378 - 1417 : The Great (Western) Schism
- Pope Gregory XI died, and the election of the next Pope was disputed. Urban VI in Rome and Clement VII in Avignon both claimed to be Pope. They excommunicated one another, and all of Europe had to choose sides. The Church lost authority and respect.
- 1381 : The Peasants' Revolt
- In England, led by Wat Tyler. Although the revolt was put down brutally, the feudal system was breaking up
- 1380 - 1471 : Thomas á Kempis
- German mystic who wrote the "Cloud of Unknowing" which is still a great spiritual classic
- 1396 - 1468 : Johann Gutenberg
- German, inventor of the European printing press. Printed a Bible in Germany in 1453
- 1412 - 1431 : Joan of Arc
- French peasant girl who led the French to victory against the English, was betrayed, and burnt at the stake by the English
- 1422 - 1491 : William Caxton
- The first English printer, went to Europe to learn the techniques of printing, published the first printed book in English (1474), set up a printing press in London (1476), published Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1484)
- 1434 - 1464 : Cosimo de' Medici
- Florentine Merchant Prince
- 1449 - 1492 : Lorenzo de' Medici
- "Il Magnifico", member of the de' Medici family of merchants in Florence, Italy. Great patron of the arts. Members of the de' Medici family were equivalent to princes, and married into several of the royal families of Europe.
- 1451 - 1506 : Christopher Columbus
- First voyage of Discovery towards America in 1492
- 1452 - 1498 : Girolamo Savonarola
- Italian Roman Catholic Dominican preacher, he was hanged and his body burned for heresy in Florence
- 1452 - 1519 : Leonardo da Vinci
- Italian genius, polymath, inventor, artist; painted "The Last Supper" on the wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome in 1495
- 1453 : Fall of Constantinople
- The end of the Byzantine Empire. The Turks captured Constantinople, killed the Emperor Constantine XI, and established an Islamic Empire in eastern Europe.
- 1455 - 1485 : The Wars of the Roses
- Henry VI of England became insane in 1453; his son Edward was born that same year. Richard, Duke of York, who also had a claim to the throne, became "Lord Protector", but was opposed by Henry VI's wife, Queen Margaret of Anjou, and civil war ensued.
In 1460 the King was captured by Richard of York, and forced to name Richard as heir to the throne in place of the King's baby son. A few months later Richard of York was killed in battle, but his son (also named Edward) continued the war.
In 1461 Richard's son claimed the throne and was crowned as Edward IV. Henry VI fled to Scotland with the Queen and his son, and stayed there until 1464.
In 1464 Henry VI returned to lead an uprising in the north of England, but was defeated and captured in 1465. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for several years.
In 1470 there was a quarrel between Edward IV and one of his Earls, Richard Neville Earl of Warwick. Warwick set Henry VI free and made him King again - for a few months. Edward IV struck back, killed Henry VI's son Edward in battle, put Henry VI back in the Tower, and murdered him in 1471.
One of the reasons for the quarrel between Edward IV and Warwick was that in 1464 Edward had married Elizabeth Woodville, who was part of the Lancastrian family, and began to show favors to the Lancastrians rather than the Yorkists. There were seven children of the marriage - two sons, Edward and Richard, and five daughters, of whom the eldest, Elizabeth, was eventually forced into marriage with Henry VII.
In 1483 Edward IV died at the age of 40, naming his brother Richard as the Protector of his 12-year-old son Edward V of England. The queen's family had aroused resentment amongst the other noble families. Richard seized the opportunity, put Edward V and his 9-year-old brother Richard in the Tower, and called a Council of Lords and Commons to declare that the Woodville marriage was invalid, the princes and princesses were bastards, and that Richard was the rightful heir to the throne.
Richard III was crowned in 1483, and probably murdered his nephews at that time. If Richard III did not have them killed, then his successor Henry VII did so in order to secure his claim to the throne
Almost as soon as Richard III was crowned, rebellion broke out, led by Margaret Beaufort and her son Henry Tudor. The rebellion was eventually successful, Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, and Henry Tudor was crowned as Henry VII in 1485. Henry VII strengthened his claim to the throne by forcing Elizabeth, the oldest surviving daughter of Edward IV, to marry him - 1465 - 1536 : Erasmus of Rotterdam
- Dutch scholar, traveled throughout Europe and England, studied the Greek text of the New Testament, made a new translation of the New Testament from the original Greek into Latin (ca. 1505). Although he paved the way for the Reformation, he himself remained a Roman Catholic
- 1468 - 1524 : Vasco da Gama
- Portuguese explorer,
- 1469 - 1527 : Nicolò Machiavelli
- Italian politician, author of "The Prince" - a book of instruction for rulers
- 1471 - 1528 : Albrecht Dürer
- German artist, particularly of religious themes, such as the "Praying Hands" - which were his brother's
- 1473 - 1543 : Nicholaus Copernicus
- European astronomer
- 1475 - 1564 : Michelangelo Buonarotti
- Italian artist, sculptor, architect
- 1478 - 1535 : Thomas More
- English scholar, Chancellor of England, Speaker of the House of Commons, and friend (initially) of Henry VIII. He was executed by Henry because he would not renounce allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church
- 1479 : Spain
- Union of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, leading to the formation of Spain as a political entity
- 1480 : The Inquisition
- Ferdinand and Isabella appointed Inquisitors to examine if conversion of Jews to Christianity in Spain was genuine
- 1480 - 1521 : Ferdinand Magellan
- Portuguese explorer
- 1483 - 1545 : Martin Luther
- German monk who broke with Rome, led the Reformation in Germany, translated the Bible into German, wrote hymns in German (said "Why should the devil have all the best tunes?")
- 1484 - 1531 : Ulrich Zwingli
- Swiss Reformer
- 1489 - 1556 : Thomas Cranmer
- English Reformer, became Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Henry VIII, translated and edited the first English "Book of Common Prayer", was burned at the stake by Mary I
- 1491 - 1556 : Ignatius Loyola
- Spanish mystic who founded the "Society of Jesus" (the Jesuits) in 1533, with the aim of renewing the Church by bringing education and preaching to the people. He wrote the "Spiritual Exercises" (ca. 1523) to help people come to a greater awareness of the presence of God
- 1491 - 1547 : Henry VIII
- Henry VIII was a pivotal figure in reforming the Church in England. He used the movement towards reformation in England for his own purposes, and broke with papal authority, declaring that he was Head of the Church in England.
Go here for a separate page of information on Henry VIII and his relationship to the Reformation in England - 1492 : Spain
- The Moorish kingdom of Granada fell to Ferdinand and Isabella. Jews in Spain were given three months to either leave the country or convert to Christianity
- 1492-1493 : Spain
- Christopher Columbus made his first voyage of discovery to America
- 1509-1564 : John Calvin
- French Reformer who moved to Basle (Switzerland), then Geneva (Switzerland), then Strasbourg (border of France and Germany) He wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion to give a formal theology to Protestantism
- 1536 : Basle, Switzerland
- First edition of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
