Key Dates in Church History

Great Fire of Rome

64

Fall and Destruction of Jerusalem

70

Marcion Excommunicated

144

Cyprian Writes On the Unity of the Church

251

Constantine adopts Christian symbol for his standards at Milvian Bridge

312

Edict of Milan (also called Edict of Toleration)

313

Council of Nicaea (First Ecumenical) condemns theology of Arius

325

Constantine inaugurates Constantinople (formerly Byzantium) as 'New Rome'

330

Constantine baptized on his deathbed

337

First Council of Constantinople (Second Ecumenical) expands Nicene Creed

381

Augustine begins writing Confessions

397

Doctrine of Pelagius (a British monk) condemned at Council of Carthage

418

Death of Augustine

430

Council of Ephesus (Third Ecumenical) condemns Nestorius, reaffirms Nicaea, declares Mary Theotokos (Godbearer)

431

Council of Chalcedon (Fourth Ecumenical) rejects Eutychianism, affirms Definition, and leads to dissent by Coptic churches

451

Second Council of Orange affirms Augustinian rejection of semi-Pelagianism

529

Benedict of Nursia at Monte Cassino develops monastic rule around this time

530

Second Council of Constantinople (Fifth Ecumenical) rejects Nestorianism and affirms Theopaschite formula that 'the Lord of glory and one of the Holy Trinity was crucified in the flesh'

553

The hegira, year 0 of the Muslim calendar, when Muhammad flees Mecca for Medina

622

Death of Muhammad

632

Third Council of Constantinople (Sixth Ecumenical) condemns Monothelitism and affirms that Christ has 'two natural wills' and energies or operations

681

Bede completes Ecclesiastical History of the English People

731

Second Council of Nicea (Seventh Ecumenical) upholds the veneration of icons (as opposed to worship, which is due to God alone)

787

Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III at (old) St Peter's Basilica

800

Great Schism of Western and Eastern churches when mutual anathemas are exchanged at Constantinople between Cardinal HUmbert, representing the Papacy, and Patriarch Michael Cerularius

1054

Anselm named Archbishop of Canterbury by King William II of England

1093

Urban II preaches the First Crusade at Council of Clermont in effort to recapture Jerusalem from Muslims

1095

The Fourth Crusade is diverted to Constantinople and Latin troops sack the city and set up Latin empire

1204

Francis of Assisi gives friars their first rule, emphasizing poverty, humility, and the teachings of Jesus

1209

Fourth Lateran Council orders annual confession and communion; transubstantiation formally defined

1215

Papal Inquisition established Gregory IX

1231

Thomas Aquinas has mystical experiences ("All I have written seems like straw...") and dies the following year

1273

Julian of Norwich experiences sixteen "showings"; expanded twenty years later

1373

The Western Schism leads to two lines of papacy

1378

Council of Constance ends Western Schism, affirms that general councils superior to popes, condemns Wycliffe and Hus (burned)

1414-18

Erasmus publishes the first printed Greek New Testament

1516

Luther posts the 95 Theses at Wittenberg (31 October)

1517

Luther excommunicated by Leo X in January and defends himself against Rome in April before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms ("Here I stand ...")

1521

Ignatius Loyola begins writing Spiritual Exercises

1522

Peasants' Revolt in Germany

1524

Zwingli institutes the "Prophecy" for biblical interpretation in Zurich

1525

Diet of Speyer sees Lutheran princes issue a formal "protestation" against Edict of Worms

1529

Diet of Augsburg, convened by Charles V, leads to presentation of Augsburg Confession

1530

Calvin publishes Institutes of the Christian Religion

1536

Paul III's Sublimis Dei instructs Catholics to protect rights of Native Americans; forbids enslavement

1537

Roman Catholic Council of Trent begins, addressing doctrinal and practical reforms; affirms Latin Vulgate

1545

Teresa of Avila reaches the mystical heights of 'spiritual marriage'

1572

King James Bible published (Authorized Version)

1611

Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years' War, securing toleration for Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists

1648

Philipp Jakob Spener writes Pia Desideria, inaugurating the Pietist Movement

1675

John Wesley's "Aldersgate Experience" (London)

1738

Jonathan Edwards publishes Religious Affections

1746

Schleiermacher publishes his addresses to the 'cultured despisers of religion'

1799

Slave Trade made illegal in Britain

1807

Start of Oxford Movement in England (led by John Henry Newman, who converts to Catholicism in 1845)

1833

Pius IX declares the immaculate conception (conceived without original sin) of the Virgin Mary

1854

Charles Darwin 'The Origin of Species'

1859

First Vatican Council (began a year earlier) declares papal infallibility when pope speaks "ex cathedra"

1870

Pandita Ramabai establishes Mukti Mission, advocating for the rights of vulnerable women

1889

Leo XIII encyclical Rerum Novarum on rights and duties of capital and labor

1891

Azusa Street Revival formally marks the beginning of Pentecostalism in the West

1906

Edinburgh World Missionary Conference

1910

World Christian Fundamentals Association founded to oppose modernizing tendencies in the churches

1919

Karl Barth publishes the first volume of Church Dogmatics

1932

Barmen Declaration opposes German Christian movement against Nazi control of church teaching

1934

Georgia Harkness named first woman theology professor in the U.S.

1939

Bonhoeffer executed in Buchenwald

1945

Pope Pius XII proclaims the Virgin Mary's bodily assumption into heaven as dogma

1950

Second Vatican Council convened by John XIII for aggiornamento or adaptation to modern world

1962

Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C.

1963

'Humanae Vitae' (Paul VI) reiterates ban on birth control

1968

Gustao Gutierrez publishes A Theology of Liberation

1971

John Paul II begins pontificate, marking global connection to the papacy and opposition to communism

1978