1301-1320 A.D.
Catholics of the 20th century always think of Vatican City as the place where popes
live. Saying 'Rome' is sometimes equivalent to saying 'the pope' or 'the Church
authorities.' But it wasn't always so. When a Frenchman was elected pope in 1305, he moved
the papacy to a Dominican monastery in Avignon, France, beginning what is known as 'the
Babylonian Captivity' of the papacy (a phrase that recalled the exile of the Jews in the
Old Testament). Clement V was crowned in Lyons and never visited Rome at all. The next six
popes would be French and live in Avignon, away from Italian turmoil. The papacy would not
return to the Vatican until the end of the 14th century. The domination of France during
the 70-year Babylonian Captivity can be measured by noting that of the 110 cardinals
named, 90 were Frenchmen.
Elsewhere in time
First medical reference to eyeglasses...Petrarch and Boccaccio born...Giotto paints
frescoes...Dante writes 'Divine Comedy'...Jews expelled from France, which also excludes
women from ruling...Duns Scotus dies...
1321-1340 A.D.
While much of the early history of the Church was dominated by southern Europeans,
especially with the papacy based in Italy, the Faith was flourishing around the world. An
example of sanctity in the north of Europe was St. Bridget of Sweden (1302-1373), who had
eight children, one of whom, Catherine, was also canonized. After her husband's death,
Bridget entered a monastery and began having visions. She also founded a religious order
named for her, the Bridgettines. Known for her penitence, humility and charity toward the
needy, St. Bridget was also a reformer, calling on bishops and abbots to stop their
abuses. It was her urging that was partly responsible for the return of the papacy from
Avignon to Rome.
Elsewhere in time
Meister Eckhart, Giotto, Marco Polo and Dante die...John Wyclif and Chaucer born...Thomas
Aquinas canonized...Hundred Years War begins...
1341-1360 A.D.
A twin, she was the 23rd child of poor Italian parents. She would become one of the
Church's greatest mystics and reformers: St. Catherine of Siena. As early as 7, Catherine
displayed intense religious interests, even reporting a vision of Christ. Her father,
recognizing her zeal, ordered that she be left alone to pray and meditate. After becoming
a Dominican, she attracted followers by her cheerful commitment to Christ, and became more
and more involved in Church affairs, even telling Pope Gregory XI to make sure he
appointed 'virtuous men' as cardinals or the result would be 'a great insult to God and
disaster to the Church.' Catherine received mystical stigmata around 1375, wounds on her
body, visible only to her, that echoed those of Christ on the cross.
Elsewhere in time
Plague, the "Black Death," sweeps through Europe, killing millions...lute
becomes fashionable instrument...tea-drinking banned in Japan...tennis grows in popularity
in Europe...
1361-1380 A.D.
In 1378, the Church was sundered by the Great Schism. When Urban VI was elected pope, he
tried to reform the clergy and wrest control from the French cardinals, who dominated the
Church. They responded by electing an anti-pope, Clement VII, tearing the Church in two
and leading to warfare, conspiracies and decades of rancor. When Urban died, his
successor, Boniface IX, tried to undo the schism but failed. When Clement died, another
anti-pope replaced him. Meanwhile, Boniface introduced simony to the Vatican, selling
offices and indulgences in order to build up the depleted papal treasury. The schism
continued as popes and anti-popes were elected, not ending until 1417 when the existence
of three claimants to the papacy led to a compromise and eventual reunion.
Elsewhere in time
'Piers Plowman' written...Tamerlaine conquers Asia...Bastille constructed in France...Jan
Hus and Thomas a Kempis born...political rulers include the Black Prince and John of
Gaunt...Babylonian Captivity of papacy ends...
1381-1400 A.D.
Simony wasn't invented in the Middle Ages, but it would flourish then and lead to the
Reformation. In the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles tells about Simon the
Magician, who tried to buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the Apostles (Acts 8:18-24).
His name was then given to the act of buying or selling something of spiritual value, such
as an indulgence or Church office, including Holy Orders. While priests are justly paid a
stipend and sacred objects like rosaries are rightly sold, simony involves the intent to
profit disproportionately. As the Church grew in wealth and power, the temptation to
simony increased, becoming the focus of the wrath of critics, including popes like Gregory
the Great and reformers like John Wyclif.
Elsewhere in time
John Wyclif dies...Chaucer writes his greatest works, including 'The Canterbury Tales,'
and dies in 1400...Fra Angelico, Jan van Eyck and Gutenberg born...Mound-Builders work in
what would be named North America...
1401-1420 A.D.
There have been many outstanding Thomases in the history of the Church: Thomas the
doubting Apostle, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Becket and Thomas More are four. Another is
Thomas a Kempis, a German spiritual writer whose greatest work is his 'Imitation of
Christ.' (His name is derived from Kempen, the village where he was born.) An Augustinian
priest, Thomas wrote about the soul, grace, virtue and Marian devotion. But it is his
'Imitation' that has been called one of the most widely read devotional books in the
world. Those who have read it recommend this 500-year-old book to people who want to
deepen their spiritual life and come to a more profound understanding of Jesus.
Elsewhere in time
James I of Scotland imprisoned...Filippo Lippi and Joan of Arc born...Donatello sculpts
his David...John Hus excommunicated and burned at stake...Good King Wenceslaus dies...
1421-1440 A.D.
She was born Jeanne la Pucelle but is known to history as Joan of Arc, the Maid of
Orleans. At the age of 13, this obscure peasant girl began to hear heavenly voices urging
her to liberate France from England. Heeding their call, she met with the deposed Charles
VII and convinced him to assemble an army. With her at their head, the troops captured
Orleans and secured other victories that led to the crowning of Charles. But Joan was
captured by the English, tried for heresy, excommunicated and burned at the stake when she
was only 19. Within a few years, however, the Church reversed its ruling and set her on
the road toward canonization.
Elsewhere in time
Nine-month-old Henry VI becomes king of England...Van Eyck dies...Modern English begins to
supplant Middle English...Azores discovered...Fra Angelico paints...
1441-1460 A.D.
For more than a thousand years, ever since Constantine renamed Byzantium after himself
and established the seat of government there around 300, Constantinople had been one of
the greatest cities in Christendom. It was the site of several Church councils, the place
where great saints like John Chrysostom lived and the focal point of the schism that split
the Church. That Christian history ended in 1453, however, when the Turks captured the
city, eventually converting its great church, St. Sophia (Holy Wisdom), into a mosque. The
city then got its third name, Istanbul, and became a center for another faith: Islam.
Elsewhere in time
Van Eyck dies...Bosch, Bramante, Botticelli, Savanarola, Columbus and Lorenzo de
Medici born...Vatican Library founded...Incas consolidate their power in Peru...Gutenberg
begins printing books...
1461-1480 A.D.
As the 15th century closed, a door opened for one of the most controversial figures in
the history of Catholicism: Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican priest from Italy who railed
against corruption in the Church, including the papacy itself. Savonarola began giving
sermons that predicted doom for the Church if it continued its ways, a doom which he said
came true when Charles VIII of France invaded Italy. When Pope Alexander VI summoned
Savonarola to Rome to explain himself, he refused to come. Eventually, Alexander, who
deserved criticism, excommunicated the preacher, who in turn called on secular rulers to
depose the Pope. Tried and convicted of heresy and schism, Savonarola was executed in
1498. Today, many consider him a saint.
Elsewhere in time
Magellan, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, de Gama, Durer, Holbein, Erasmus and Thomas
More born...bowling outlawed in England; Scotland bans golf...Gutenberg dies...Ferdinand
marries Isabella, uniting Spain...Caxton prints first book in English...
1481-1500 A.D.
Just as Columbus was discovering America, the Church was discovering what many
scholars call one of the most morally corrupt popes in history: Alexander VI, who reigned
from 1492-1503. Alexander had six sons and three daughters from relationships with several
mistresses. Among his children were Cesare and Lucretia Borgia. Alexander added to his
corruption by selling indulgences during the Holy Year of 1500. But he was also a capable
administrator and politician. Alexander had one of the most unusual burials in history:
Because his body swelled grotesquely after death, he was rolled up in a carpet and
battered until his crushed corpse fit into the coffin made for him.
Elsewhere in time
Spanish Inquisition begins...Boticelli paints frescoes in Sistine
Chapel...Richard III murders his nephews and becomes ruler of England...Luther born...plus
and minus symbols used widely...Leonardo paints 'Last Supper'...Jews expelled from
Spain...
1501-1520 A.D.
When used properly, indulgences are one of the wonderful things about the Church. When
not, they have caused all sorts of troubles. An indulgence, the remittance of punishment
for sin in this life and the next, can be gained through prayer, charitable acts,
sacrifices and other means. Some people, however, got the idea of selling them, an abuse
that would lead Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, out of the Church and into the
Reformation. He posted his 95 Theses in 1517 and was excommunicated in 1520. Through the
centuries, several Church councils condemned the sale of indulgences, including the
Council of Trent, the Church's response to the Reformation.
Elsewhere in time
Da Vinci and Lucretia Borgia die...Michelangelo sculpts his David and Moses...Columbus
makes last voyage to New World...John Knox born...Henry VIII crowned...slave trade
begins...Swiss Guards established...
1521-1540 A.D.
Brought as slaves from Africa to Sicily, Christopher and Diana Manasseri
converted to Christianity, a faith they passed on to their son, Benedict. He worked in the
fields until he was freed and became a day laborer. In his spare time, he worked among the
poor, sharing his salary and comforting the sick. He was attracted to a group of men who
lived as religious -- and they soon selected him as their superior. Eventually, the men
formally joined the Franciscan order, with Benedict becoming the cook of the friary in
Palermo. Even though he was illiterate, his leadership skills showed again, and he was
chosen guardian and master of novices. Once Benedict the Slave, he is now known as St.
Benedict the Moor, whose feast day is April 4.
Elsewhere in time
Zwingli bans Masses in Zurich...Luther marries Katherine von Bora...Rome sacked;
pope imprisoned...Henry VIII seeks a divorce from Catherine of Aragon and founds Church of
England...Halley's Comet appears...Jesuits founded...Thomas More executed...Our Lady of
Guadalupe appears to Juan Diego and leaves her image on his cloak
1541-1560 A.D.
As the Roman Catholic Church was being sundered by the Protestant Reformation, some of the
greatest saints began their ministries -- and many of them came from Spain. Ignatius of
Loyola, for example, was founding the Jesuits during this time. A wounded Spanish soldier
who underwent a conversion experience, Ignatius stressed service to the pope, intellectual
pursuits and apostolic zeal. Meanwhile, another Spaniard who was his contemporary --
Teresa of Avila -- was carrying out her reforms of the Carmelites and undergoing mystical
experiences. In 1587, St. Francis Xavier began his missionary work in Japan. As an outward
sign of this zeal, St. Peter's Basilica was being finished in Rome by Michelangelo.
Elsewhere in time
El Greco born...Coronado and De Soto explore New World...Henry VIII marries his
sixth wife...Luther dies...Titian paints...jesters appear in European courts...Queen
Elizabeth begins reign...
1561-1580 A.D.
Ever wonder why popes wear white? Tradition says the answer can be found in Pius
V, who served from 1566-1572. An ascetic man who practiced what he preached, Pius visited
the sick to comfort the dying and washed the feet of the poor. Intent on eradicating the
corruption of the Renaissance papacy, he published a catechism, revised the breviary,
ordered priests to live in their parishes, and reformed both indulgence practices and
religious orders. He also backed the Inquisition and excommunicated Queen Elizabeth,
hardening positions that would take centuries to ease. So what does he have to do with
popes wearing white? Pius was a Dominican, and members of that order wear white robes. In
tribute to his steadfast attention to the Church, subsequent pontiffs donned white, too.
Elsewhere in time
Plague sweeps through Europe, killing tens of thousands...Shakespeare, John
Donne, Ben Jonson and Francis de Sales write...John Calvin and Michelangelo die...New
World products charm Europe, including turkeys, sweet potatoes and tobacco...Drake begins
circumnavigation of world...Ivan the Terrible rules Russia...City of St. Augustine settled
in New World...
1581-1600 A.D.
Every day, you look at something Pope Gregory XIII started. In fact, it rules
your life, appears on many watches, and is sent out free by insurance companies and car
dealers. It's the calendar. It had to be reformed because it had gotten out of whack
through earlier celestial miscalculations. As a result, the natural cycles were not in
sync with the months. So Gregory decreed that the days between Oct. 5 and 14, 1582, would
not exist, putting everything back in order. Ironically, because the Catholic pope made
the decision, Protestant nations refused to go along, leaving them on a different time
schedule for decades. In fact, England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752.
Elsewhere in time
Mary Queen of Scots and Edmund Campion executed...Oliver Cromwell
born...Monteverdi composes...plague continues in Europe...wigs become popular
fashion...Ieyasu becomes ruler of Japan...Virginia Dare becomes first English baby born in
New World...Spanish Armada defeated...Japan expels Catholic missionaries, begins
persecution...
1601-1620 A.D.
A bishop, Doctor of the Church, patron of the newspaper you are holding and
saint, Francis de Sales was also one of 13 children born to devout parents. Both a civil
and canon lawyer, Francis became a missionary who soon found that writing about the Faith
was preferable to going door-to-door trying to persuade people to convert. As bishop of
Geneva, he shored up the clergy, instructed children and preached to adults in an
estimated 4,000 sermons. He turned again and again to print to spread the Word, eventually
filling 26 volumes with his sermons, spiritual instruction and treatises on religion. For
those efforts, he is patron of the Catholic press. So great was his reputation for
sanctity that he was canonized just 43 years after his death in 1622.
Elsewhere in time
Queen Elizabeth dies; succeeded by James I, who pens book against tobacco
use...Gunpowder Plot exposed...'Don Quixote' published...Rembrandt and Milton born...Henry
Hudson and Shakespeare die...Jamestown founded; Mayflower sails...Turks invade
Hungary...Pocahontas and John Rolfe wed...Galileo tried...
1621-1640 A.D.
As a sign of renewal and reconciliation for the coming millennium, Pope John Paul
II has called on the Church to admit the errors of its past and to apologize for its
mistakes. As one of his first examples, he chose Galileo, the Italian scientist who was
condemned by the Church for declaring that the sun was the center of the universe and that
the earth revolved around it, positions contrary to a literal reading of Scripture.
Condemned as a heretic and kept under house arrest, Galileo became a symbol of the
conflict between faith and science. In 1992, Pope John Paul formally apologized for his
treatment, saying that the Church has learned "the duty for theologians to keep
themselves informed of scientific advances."
Elsewhere in time
Holland and Spain go to war...Richelieu named a cardinal...Pascal, Wren and
Vermeer born...Francis Bacon dies...duelling outlawed in France...Manhattan purchased for
$24...Harvey discovers circulation of blood...New England colonies founded...
View information for the years:
1001-1300 A.D.
761-1000 A.D.
561-760 A.D.
441-560 A.D.
321 - 440 A.D.
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