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1409 COUNCIL OF PISA CONVENES
The Council of Pisa convened on March 25, 1409. It was the first of three Reformatory councils where the gathered dignitaries and leaders of the church, rather than the pope, had the final authority. During the previous thirty-one years of the Great Schism, the existence of two popes, one seated in Rome and the other in Avignon, wreaked such havoc in Western Christendom that this council was called to reconcile the division and bring reform. The council deposed Gregory XII (1327-1417) (Rome) and Benedict XIII (1328-1423) (Avignon) and elected Alexander V (1339-1410) as the new pope. However, the first two refused to resign, resulting in three popes. Nevertheless, the Council of Pisa did lay the groundwork for an eventual solution later at the Council of Constance.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1413 TORTOSA DISPUTATION BEGINS
Conversion to Christianity opened the door of opportunity for some Jews. Joshua Lorca was a Spanish Jew who converted during the mass Christian conversion in the late fourteenth century. He became Geronimo de Santa Fe and influenced Benedict XIII (1328-1423), a rival pope to the pope of Rome, to hold a disputation between Christians and Jews in Tortosa, Spain. The public proceeding became more of a spectacle than a disputation. Beginning in 1413, it continued until 1414 as more of a Christian harangue than a debate. One monk after another lectured the Jewish rabbis that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. The Jews were allowed only very limited responses. The result was that many Jews simply converted.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1414 THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE CONVENES; THE GREAT SCHISM ENDS
By 1414, the Great Schism with its three popes had become scandalous and intolerable. The German king, Sigismund (1361-1437), obliged the successor of Pope Alexander V (1339-1410)—Pope John XXIII (1370-1419)—to convoke a council. The Council of Constance was held in the city of Constance in Southern Germany and was the best attended of all the ecumenical councils. It convened on November 5, 1414, and ended on April 22, 1418. Germany, Spain, France, England, and Italy each had one vote. This council called for the resignation of Pope John XXIII amid questions of his personal conduct, following which Gregory XII (1327-1417) abdicated and Benedict XIII (1328-1423) was deposed. Although not adequately addressing church corruption, the council did elect Martin V (1368-1431) as the new pope. It also posthumously condemned the writings of John Wycliffe (1330-1384) and ordered the burning of reformers Jan Hus (1373-1415) and Jerome of Prague (1371-1416).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
A TALE OF MISPLACED TRUST
November 28, 1414
Trusting the wrong person can be a fatal mistake. Just ask Jan Hus.
Jan Hus took his last name from Husinec, the town in Southern Bohemia where he was born in 1373. As he studied for the priesthood at the University of Prague, he felt his spiritual ardor growing.
After his ordination in 1402, Hus was appointed preacher at Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. Shortly before this, the writings of the English reformer John Wycliffe had reached Prague. As Hus read the works of Wycliffe, he was drawn to the reformer's views.
Hus preached godliness and vigorously attacked the sins of the clergy, claiming, "These priests ... are drunks whose bellies growl with great drinking and are gluttons whose stomachs are overfilled until their double chins hang down." Needless to say this did not sit well with his fellow priests. But the people thronged to hear him.
Finally the pope published a decree condemning Bethlehem Chapel and calling for an investigation of the "heresies" of Wycliffe and Hus. As the pressure on him increased, Hus finally went into voluntary exile in 1412.
In 1414, Emperor Sigismund called a church council to be held in Constance in southern Germany. He invited Jan Hus, promising him safe conduct. Trusting the emperor's promise of protection, Hus accepted and arrived safely in Constance, but three weeks later on November 28, 1414, he heard a knock on his door. Two bishops came to arrest him, and soldiers surrounded the house.
Hus was taken away and locked in the dungeon of a convent. Beset with fever and vomiting, he was soon near death. He was saved only by a visit from the pope's physician.
Hus' supporters implored the emperor to honor his promise of safe conduct to Hus, but the emperor declared Hus to be the greatest heretic in history and therefore deserving of no protection.
Hus was brought to trial, and thirty charges were leveled against him. Many were completely frivolous, such as the charge that Hus claimed to be the fourth person of the Godhead. He rejected all the charges, but his denials were shouted down. The council sentenced him to be burned at the stake the same day. As the bishops ripped his vestments from his body, they cried, "We commit your soul to the devil."
When he was tied to the stake, he was given one last opportunity to recant. Hus replied, "God is my witness that... the principal intention of my preaching and of all my other acts or writings was solely that I might turn men from sin. And in that truth of the gospel... I am willing gladly to die today." As the flames shot up around him, he could be heard singing, "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me."
The followers of Jan Hus down through the centuries developed into the Moravians, through whom John Wesley and tens of thousands of others were converted to Christ. Hus may have lost the battle, but not the war.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1415 JAN HUS IS BURNED AT THE STAKE
Jan Hus (1373-1415) was a priest and professor in Prague when he began being influenced by the writings of the reformer John Wycliffe (1330-1384). Hus started vigorously attacking the sins of the clergy of his day. His actions made him very popular among the people, but not so popular among his fellow priests. Hus was excommunicated and forced into exile, but he returned to Constance, Germany, to attend a church council after the emperor promised his protection. However, a few weeks later, on November 28, 1414, he was arrested, imprisoned, and the following year put on trial for heresy. He was found guilty and was burned at the stake the same day.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1418 THOMAS A KEMPIS WRITES THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
Born Thomas Hemerken in a town northwest of Cologne, Germany, Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) and his brother were sent to the Netherlands to study with a religious order called the Brothers of the Common Life. There he was known as Thomas from Kempen, which became Thomas a Kempis. He became a monk, a copyist, and a religious writer of devotional tracts and books. His most well-known book is the devotional classic The Imitation of Christ. Originally written in Latin, within in a few years it was translated into French, German, English, and Spanish, and has had more than two thousand editions and printings.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1419 THE TABORITE MOVEMENT ENJOYS BRIEF SUCCESS
The Taborites were the most radical followers of Jan Hus (1373-1415). They came from southern Bohemia in the present-day Czech Republic, and were largely members of the lower classes. They believed that doctrine should be limited to the teaching of the Bible and rejected distinctions between priests and laity. They became a mass movement when forty thousand people assembled in July 1419 on a hill given the biblical name of Tabor. Led by military leader John Zizka (c. 1358-1424), the Taborites were able to defeat the imperial army sent to destroy them. However, their success lasted only a short while, and in 1434, an army of the Catholic nobles defeated the Taborites, ending the movement.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1420 CRUSADE TARGETS THE HUSSITES
The death of Jan Hus (1373-1415) in 1415 made him a martyr and a national hero in Bohemia. His followers, known as Hussites, couldn't agree on the extent of reforms needed within the Catholic Church and consequently split into two groups. The moderates, called the Calixtines or Utraquists from the Latin word meaning "both," were willing to remain within the Catholic Church if Communion could be served to the laity. The more radical Taborites would make no concessions to Rome. In 1420, Pope Martin V (1368-1431) gathered 150,000 men from across Europe for a crusade against Bohemia. Five times in the following twelve years they advanced against the Hussites and five times were defeated. Ultimately the Utraquists reconciled with the church, and Hussism largely died out. Many Hussite teachings lived on in the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren groups.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1431 JOAN OF ARC IS MARTYRED
Joan of Arc was born a peasant around 1412 in Domremy, France, during the Hundred Years' War when England sought to capture the French throne. From her early teens, Joan of Arc saw visions and heard voices telling her to liberate her country. She convinced young King Charles VII (1403-1461) of her special calling from heaven, insisting that France would prevail. With conviction and military genius, she led the French victoriously into battle at Orleans in 1429. Four other victories followed. Joan then led the king to Reims for his coronation. After that event, the voices and visions left her and she wished to return home. Returning to battle at the king's insistence, Joan was captured by England's allies and condemned as a heretic. Burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, the Maid of Orleans remains a national heroine of France.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1431 COUNCIL OF BASEL CONVENES
The Council of Basel, called by Pope Martin V (1368-1431), opened on July 23, 1431, and was characterized by the ongoing struggle for supremacy between the council and the pope. By 1433, the new pope, Eugene IV (1383-1447), recognized the authority of the council, which then turned its attention to the enactment of reforms, some of which limited the pope administratively and financially, and endeavored to bring reconciliation to the rebellion of the followers of the martyred Jan Hus (1373-1415) in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). However, the Conciliar Movement was dealt a severe blow when Pope Eugene IV transferred the council to Ferrara, Italy, in 1438, and later to Florence and Rome. In defiance, the majority of the council refused to go to Ferrara and elected an antipope, Felix V (d. 1451), who served from 1439 to 1449. Felix V found little support outside Savoy and Switzerland.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1439 COUNCIL OF FLORENCE CONVENES
After the separation between the Greek church in the East and the Latin church in the West became permanent in 1054, the Latin church pressed for reunification. Finally, the Greek church agreed to a meeting, hoping thereby to secure assistance against the advancing Turks. Pope Eugene IV (1383-1447) transferred the Council of Basel being held in Basel, Switzerland, to Ferrara, Italy, deeming Ferrara more accessible to the Greek leaders. The first common session was held on October 8, 1438. When the city of Florence, Italy, agreed to fund the council, it was moved to Florence in 1439 and became known as the Council of Florence. Council members signed a superficial decree of unity between the Eastern and Western churches on July 5, 1439, which proved to be only temporarily successful.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1449 TOLEDO BANS JEWS FROM HOLDING OFFICE
In 1449, the city council of Toledo, Spain, issued a law prohibiting Christian converts who came from Jewish descent from holding any official office within the city. In response to the council's decree, Pope Nicholas V (1397-1455) signed a papal decree that attempted to counter the false notion that Jews could not be transformed by Christian conversion. Although Nicholas V excommunicated those who instituted the ban in Toledo, within two years the king of Castile officially made the ban law for all of Castile. The end result was that Jews in Spain were legally defined by their bloodlines, and "Jewish" people, formerly defined as a religious group that included all adherents to Judaism, became a racial group instead.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1450 MOVABLE-TYPE PRINTING IS INVENTED
Johannes Gutenberg (1397-1468), born in Mainz, Germany, is acknowledged as the inventor of printing with movable type. Gutenberg was looking for faster ways of producing books, which up until then were produced slowly by copyists using quills and reeds or by printing with hand stamps and woodcuts. The Renaissance produced a tremendous hunger for learning, and these methods could not keep up with the demand for books. Gutenberg developed an oil-based ink and a typecasting machine that used a tin alloy to cast movable metal type. Wine, cheese, or olive oil presses were modified so that the huge screw pressed the printing block against the paper. Using this method, a printer could make identical copies of a book quite quickly—about three hundred per day. The printing press soon was to be used by God to fuel the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1450 THE RENAISSANCE SPREADS THROUGH EUROPE
The Renaissance, or "rebirth," started in Italy during the fourteenth century and spread throughout Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was typified by the spread of humanism, a return to classical values and the beginning of objective scientific inquiry. The invention of printing helped spread the new ideas. The presence of a wealthy leisured class made possible the patronage of artists and intellectuals. It became an age of transition between the Church-centered culture of the Middle Ages and modern civilization. For the church, the Renaissance can be dated from 1450, when Nicholas V (1397— 1455) was pope. He was known for his patronage of the arts and for his efforts to restore Rome and build the Vatican library. Tired of monastic asceticism and church restrictions on intellectual inquiry, Western Europe replaced heavenly considerations with earthly interests. The resulting intellectual and religious climate helped prepare the way for the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1453 THE BOHEMIAN BRETHREN ARE FORMED
The Bohemian Brethren, known later as the Moravian Brethren, were a group of Christians committed to fulfilling the law of Christ. The Brethren first formed under the preaching of Archbishop Rokycana (1390-1471) in Prague; they were later united with the followers of Peter Chelcicky (d. 1457). The Brethren society consisted of three groups: the beginners, the advanced, and the perfected (priests), who were held to a very high standard. The priests were to remain celibate, administer the seven sacraments, and maintain a high level of honesty and integrity. They eventually separated completely from the Catholic Church. The Brethren later expanded into synods and dioceses. During the mid-sixteenth century, persecution led to the dispersion of the Brethren into many isolated groups. Many of these groups were reunited later under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) in Germany.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1453 CONSTANTINOPLE FALLS TO THE TURKS
By the late 1300s, the Ottoman Turks (Turkish Muslims) had started to build an empire that was destined to cover much of the Middle East, as well as parts of North Africa and southeastern Europe. With Constantinople threatened by Muslim invasion, the Greek Orthodox Church had agreed at the Council of Florence in 1439 to reunification with the Roman Church. Largely motivated by the hope of reinforcement against the Turks, the Greeks were to be disappointed in the little aid they received. Constantinople fell on May 29, 1453, to the Ottoman forces led by Mohammad II (1430-1481). The Byzantine Empire was no more; the reunification of the Eastern and Western churches was shortlived. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul, meaning "to the city." Istanbul remained the capital of Turkey from 1453 until 1923 when Ankara replaced it.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1456 GUTENBERG PRODUCES THE FIRST PRINTED BIBLE
Mass production of books was made possible with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg (1397-1468). In Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg borrowed money from Johann Fust to finance his printing business. The first major book produced during the years 1453-1456 was the 42-line Gutenberg Bible, which was the Vulgate, Jerome's Latin translation of the Hebrew and Greek texts. No two Bibles were alike since each had large capital letters and ornamentation added by hand after it came off the press. It is believed that about 160-180 copies were printed; large portions of 48 still exist. The Library of Congress, the British Library, and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris each has an excellent copy printed on vellum.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1460 HENRY THE NAVIGATOR DIES
The Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), sent out more than fifty expeditions to explore the northwest coast of Africa but never went on one himself. The purpose of these voyages was to establish Portuguese colonies, to break the Muslim hold on trade, and to spread Christianity. Unfortunately, almost from the first, Africans were brought back to Europe as slaves. By his death on November 13, 1460, Henry had substantially advanced the knowledge of navigation. He made possible the later explorations of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) and Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1478 POPE SIXTUS IV AUTHORIZES THE SPANISH INQUISITION Prodded by Queen Isabella (1451-1504), Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484) authorized the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Headed up by the Dominican order, the church hoped to identify and remove heresy among Christians. In 1483, Tomas de Torquemada (1420-1498) was appointed the Spanish Grand Inquisitor. He set up tribunals with such effectiveness that they lasted for three centuries. Persecution was leveled against Spanish Muslims called Moors, as well as Jews and Muslims who had been forced to convert to Christianity and who were suspected of duplicity. The grounds for arrest often were mere rumor, and all were presumed guilty until proven innocent. Torture was the primary means of extracting confessions, and burning was the principal means of execution. By Torquemada's death, two thousand had been executed as heretics under his authority.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1481 SAVONAROLA SPURS REVIVAL IN FLORENCE
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) was a Dominican friar who brought revival to Florence, Italy, in 1481. Both an intellectual and a man of deep piety, he was known for his asceticism, visions of ecstasy, and predictions of the future. Savonarola had been a preacher in Italy since 1845, steadily gaining influence and popularity. However, after having a vision of God's judgment on Florence, he took his message to the streets with increased passion. He moved large congregations to tears, had long lines outside of his church before services, and held huge bonfires to burn "sinful articles." Seemingly all of Florence got caught up in the popularity of his movement. Savonarola was influential even in setting up a new system of government after a French invasion. However, the revival and his popularity were short-lived. He was excommunicated for heresy and ultimately hanged in Florence.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1488 FIRST COMPLETE HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT IS PRINTED For hundreds of years, the Hebrew Scriptures—the Old Testament of modern Bibles—were preserved through the painstaking and careful work of scribes who handwrote copies to pass on from generation to generation. The diligent and accurate preservation of the Old Testament text is due largely to groups such as the Masoretes, a group of scribes who arose at the end of the fifth century. However, with Johann Gutenberg's (1397-1468) invention of the printing press around 1450, the transmission of these ancient texts became much easier and more efficient. On February 23, 1488, the first complete Hebrew Bible was printed in Soncino, Italy. For the first time the Old Testament Scriptures were available in Hebrew in large numbers.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 THE LAST MUSLIM MOORS ARE REMOVED FROM SPAIN The Moors were Islamic nomads from northwestern Africa. They joined the Arabs who came into Europe from North Africa in the seventh century, marching across the Pyrenees Mountains and advancing as far as Tours, France, before Charles Martel (689-741) defeated them in 732. They retreated to Spain, which then was divided into Islamic fiefdoms. Gradually, Christians took over power in the north and west of Spain. In the early thirteenth century, Christian kings joined to push the Moors out of central Spain, but they remained in the kingdom of Granada for three more centuries. Finally on January 2, 1492, the Moors in Granada surrendered to the army of King Ferdinand (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella (1451-1504). These were the years of the Spanish Inquisition, during which any Muslims who wished to remain in Spain were forced to convert to Christianity.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
A KING WHO THREW HIS WEIGHT AROUND
June 28, 1491
Have you ever noticed how God sometimes uses unlikely characters to play important roles in executing his plan? A case in point is the four-hundred-pound founder of the Episcopal Church,
He was born on June 28, 1491, the second son of King Henry VII of England. Named after his father, young Henry was trained for a career in the church since, as second son, he was not born to be king. However, when his older brother, Arthur, died in 1502, young Henry became the heir apparent.
Henry was just seventeen when his father died and he began to reign as King Henry VII. Honoring his father's dying request, he married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, thus maintaining the alliance between England and Spain. Two weeks after their wedding in 1509, they were crowned king and queen of England. Henry turned over the management of his realm to his ministers, in particular to Thomas Wolsey, his chaplain. In 1515, Wolsey was made a cardinal by the pope and lord chancellor by Henry.
In the early years of his reign, Henry was concerned with two issues: the spreading Reformation and his inability to sire a male heir. In ecclesiastical matters, Henry VIII strongly supported the pope against the Reformation. In 1521, he coauthored a book, Defense of the Seven Sacraments, which became a best seller throughout Europe.
As Henry VIII grew older and larger, his preoccupation with his lack of a male heir grew. Catherine of Aragon bore him six children, but only one, Mary Tudor, survived infancy. To Henry, it was unthinkable that a girl would succeed him. When Catherine turned forty in 1526, it was obvious to Henry that she never would bear him a son.
By 1527, Henry was in love with twenty-year-old Anne Boleyn, the younger sister of an earlier mistress. Cardinal Wolsey tried to arrange a divorce from Catherine with the pope, but the issue dragged on for years. Finally, Henry defiantly took things into his own hands and made himself head of the Church of England. He felt it was the only way he could divorce Catherine. Henry named Thomas Cranmer, who had been influenced by Lutheranism, archbishop of Canterbury, and Cranmer reciprocated by granting Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Before his divorce was final, Henry married Anne Boleyn, who was to be the second of his six wives.
More importantly for the future, Henry enacted a series of laws permanently separating the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Today, the Church of England is known in the United States as the Episcopal Church and elsewhere as the Anglican Church.
Henry himself may never have subscribed to any Protestant doctrines and his motives may have been self-serving, yet God used him to begin the Reformation in England.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 FERDINAND AND ISABELLA ISSUE SPAIN'S EDICT OF EXPULSION
King Ferdinand (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella (1451-1504), desiring to create an entirely Catholic nation, sought to erase Judaism from Spain. In spite of pleas from their Jewish advisors, they issued the Edict of Expulsion on March 31, 1492, which decreed that every Jew who would not immediately be baptized had to leave Spain by August 2, 1492. Of the two hundred thousand Jews still living in Spain, many decided to be baptized, but one hundred thousand fled to Portugal and another fifty thousand went to North Africa or Turkey. Others went to the Netherlands, the only Christian country that would receive them. On the Jewish calendar, August 2 is the ninth day of the month of Ab, the same day on which the destruction of the Jewish temple occurred in 586 BC and again in AD 70.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA
In a time when the meanings of names were taken seriously, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), named after St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, believed that he was to take the name of Christ to foreign lands that did not know of him. Columbus became convinced that sailing west would be a much quicker route to the Far East. He eventually persuaded King Ferdinand (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella (1451-1504) of Spain to finance his journey to the Orient. On August 3, 1492, Columbus boarded the Santa Mariaand set sail. On the morning of October 11, 1492, after three strenuous months at sea and with the crew on the brink of mutiny, a lookout spotted land. Setting foot on an island he named San Salvador, meaning "Holy Savior," Columbus' prayer was that "Thy holy name may be proclaimed in this second part of the earth."
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 PAPAL CORRUPTION PEAKS WITH ALEXANDER VI
Through bribery and political intrigue, a Spaniard named Rodrigo Borgia was elected Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) in 1492. Thirty-seven years previously, his uncle Callistus III (1378-1458), pope from 1455 to 1458, named him archbishop of Valencia when Alexander was only twenty-five years old. Alexander VI was able, hardworking, handsome, and imposing, but he used his papacy to serve his own desires. He did much for the arts, and for the architecture and streets of Rome; however, he was preoccupied with furthering the marriages and careers of his numerous illegitimate children by several mistresses. His pontificate was directed almost solely by family and political aspirations, and he was responsible for the execution of Savonarola (1452-1498). This most corrupt papacy ended with his death in 1503.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE OTHER DEPARTURE OF 1492
August 2, 1492
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue—but another departure from Spain also transpired in 1492, which for some was more momentous than the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
In 1469, Ferdinand, son of the king of Aragon, married his cousin Isabella, daughter of the king of Castile. Together they ruled a united Spain, and together they defeated the Muslim Moors, ending Islam's presence in Europe.
In 1479, Ferdinand and Isabella introduced the Inquisition in Spain, a tribunal to identify and remove heresy. The Jews of Spain were a particular target. Many Jews, while secretly adhering to Judaism, outwardly professed Christianity and were baptized to save their lives. The Spaniards derisively referred to them as marranos, from the word for "swine." The marranos had the legal rights of Catholic citizens, yet it was well known that privately many were still practicing Jews.
The Spanish Inquisition targeted all kinds of suspected enemies of the church, but the majority were Jews. In total the Spanish Inquisition punished 341,000 people. Over 32,000 were burned to death. The final indignity forced on the Jews was the Edict of Expulsion signed by Ferdinand and Isabella. It decreed that every Jew who would not immediately be baptized had to leave Spain within three months of the deadline of August 2, 1492.
At this time there were still two hundred thousand Jews living in Spain. Many decided to be baptized, including the senior rabbi and a majority of the leading families. Approximately one hundred thousand fled to Portugal only to be expelled four years later. Another fifty thousand crossed the straits to North Africa or sailed to Turkey. Others went to the Netherlands, the only Christian country that would receive them.
Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain half an hour before sunrise on August 3, with his Jewish secretary Luis Torres, who had been baptized. Columbus always signed his name Colon, a common name among the marranos of Genoa, his home, evidence that Columbus may have been a Hebrew Christian himself.
August 2, 1492, was the ninth day of the month Ab on the Hebrew calendar. This was the same day as the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 586 BC, beginning the exile among the Babylonians and the same day as the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in AD 70, beginning the exile among the Gentiles. It was also the same day that the Jews were expelled from England in 1290.
The persecution and exile of the Jews from Spain was the most momentous event for Judaism between the middle of the second century AD and the Holocaust. The Spanish Jews have become known as the Sephardi Jews (a corruption of an old word for Spain). They remained dispersed until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1493 POPE ALEXANDER VI DIVIDES THE WORLD BETWEEN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) had the reputation of being one of the most corrupt popes of his day. He did, however, clarify the land rights of Spain and Portugal, the two sea powers in the New World. As pope, he felt he had the authority to establish ownership of the lands in newly discovered America. After Columbus (1451-1506) returned from his first voyage in spring 1493, the pope decreed in two bulls to divide the New World between Spain and Portugal. The dividing line was negotiated a year later when representatives of the two countries met at Tordesillas, Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas made the line of demarcation about 1, 295 miles east of the Cape Verde Islands, which gave most of Brazil to Portugal and the rest of South America to Spain.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1493 POPE ALEXANDER VI AUTHORIZES MISSIONS TO NEW WORLD
New horizons for Christian missions opened up with the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). From the time of Columbus on, expansion would carry a dual religious and political flavor. In 1493, Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) issued a bull charging King Ferdinand with the responsibility "to bring the Christian faith to the peoples who inhabit these islands and the mainland, and to send to the said islands and to the mainland wise, Godfearing, and virtuous men who will be capable of instructing the indigenous people in good morals and in the Catholic faith." Immediately, missionary priests began accompanying the explorers to the New World.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1497 SAVONAROLA IS EXCOMMUNICATED
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), a prior at the Convent of San Marco in Florence, Italy, became the city's spiritual leader. He had become very popular among the people due to his attempts to reform church and state by boldly denouncing the abuses of the clergy and the evils of the ruling class. When Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) ordered Savonarola to discontinue all preaching, he disobeyed. On May 13, 1497, Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola from the church on the grounds that he had disobeyed his commands. The following year Savonarola was tried for sedition and heresy and was tortured. He was then hanged and his body publicly burned.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1497 PORTUGUESE JEWS ARE FORCED INTO MASS CONVERSION
Following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, approximately fifty thousand Jews crossed the border and sought refuge in Portugal. Unfortunately, Judaism remained legal in Portugal only four more years. In 1496, the king of Portugal outlawed Judaism, but when the Jews attempted to leave, he prevented them from doing so. On March 19, 1497, the king forced all of them to be baptized. Life for those baptized Jews was easier in Portugal than in Spain, allowing them to secretly preserve their Jewish heritage. This difference in level of persecution was aided also by Portugal's lax approach to the Inquisition.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1497 VASCO DA GAMA REACHES INDIA WITH MISSIONARIES Because overland routes to India and the Far East in the fifteenth century were blocked by the Ottoman Turks, an all-water route was needed. To establish a route between Europe and India and to spread Christianity, Admiral Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) left Lisbon, Portugal, on July 8, 1497, and followed Bartolomeu Diaz's earlier route down the west coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and then on into uncharted waters. He set out in four ships, accompanied by a number of missionary priests and with a staff mostly of convicts. Arriving in India he found—in addition to Muslims, Hindus, and Jews—Christians who claimed that their church had been founded by the apostle Thomas. Vasco da Gama made two other trips to India, dying at sea on December 24, 1524, during his third voyage.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
TORTURE IN THE NAME OF CHRIST
September 16, 1498
What makes a religious person cruel?
Tomas de Torquemada had good religious genes. Born in Spain in 1420, he was the nephew of a prominent cardinal. After entering a Dominican monastery, Torquemada was made prior of another monastery. Subsequently, he was appointed confessor to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella, best known for sponsoring Christopher Colum-bus' voyage.
Back in 1163, Pope Alexander IV had encouraged princes and bishops to imprison heretics and confiscate their property. And beginning in 1231, Pope Gregory IX set up the Inquisition, a special church tribunal for combating heresy.
Prodded by Queen Isabella of Spain, Pope Sixtus IV authorized the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. No nation during this time period was more interested in keeping the Catholic faith pure than Spain. In 1483, Torquemada was appointed the Spanish grand inquisitor and became the most powerful person in Spain after the king and queen. In 1487, the persecution was leveled against the Spanish Muslims, called Moors, and Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity who were suspected of duplicity. The conversion of the Muslims and the Jews to Christianity had been forced in almost all cases.
The Inquisition in Spain began by offering heretics the Edict of Grace, a period of thirty to forty days during which they could identify themselves and, on their confession, be assured of a pardon. The catch was that those who confessed their heresies, called penitentes, were forced to take a vow to reveal other heretics.
The grounds for a person's arrest were accusation by another, or even mere rumor. A person was assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. Torture was used regularly. Even when there was sufficient testimony from others to convict the accused, the victim was still tortured to extract a confession. Torture also was used to acquire names of additional heretics.
From the beginning, the primary means of execution was by fire. The tribunal established at Ciudad Real in 1483 burned 52 heretics in two years. When the Inquisition moved to Toledo in 1485, 750 penitentes were marched into the cathedral to be told that one-fifth of their property had been confiscated. Next the tribunal went to Avila, where 75 were burned at the stake and 26 corpses were exhumed and burned.
By the time of Torquemada's death, on September 16, 1498, two thousand heretics had been executed under his authority. The great irony is that Torquemada died hiding the fact that he himself had Jewish blood.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1498 LEONARDO DA VINCI PAINTS THE LAST SUPPER
Born in Florence, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the illegitimate son of a notary and a peasant woman. In 1482, he entered the service of the Duke of Milan. In Milan from 1495 to 1498, he painted his masterpiece The Last Supper on the refectory wall of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The scene of the Last Supper is unusual in that it contrasts the calm peacefulness of the figure of Christ with the emotional turmoil seen in the disciples at the moment of betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Leonardo spent his last days near Amboise in France, where King Francis I (1494-1547) invited him to be a member of the court.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
The Council of Pisa convened on March 25, 1409. It was the first of three Reformatory councils where the gathered dignitaries and leaders of the church, rather than the pope, had the final authority. During the previous thirty-one years of the Great Schism, the existence of two popes, one seated in Rome and the other in Avignon, wreaked such havoc in Western Christendom that this council was called to reconcile the division and bring reform. The council deposed Gregory XII (1327-1417) (Rome) and Benedict XIII (1328-1423) (Avignon) and elected Alexander V (1339-1410) as the new pope. However, the first two refused to resign, resulting in three popes. Nevertheless, the Council of Pisa did lay the groundwork for an eventual solution later at the Council of Constance.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1413 TORTOSA DISPUTATION BEGINS
Conversion to Christianity opened the door of opportunity for some Jews. Joshua Lorca was a Spanish Jew who converted during the mass Christian conversion in the late fourteenth century. He became Geronimo de Santa Fe and influenced Benedict XIII (1328-1423), a rival pope to the pope of Rome, to hold a disputation between Christians and Jews in Tortosa, Spain. The public proceeding became more of a spectacle than a disputation. Beginning in 1413, it continued until 1414 as more of a Christian harangue than a debate. One monk after another lectured the Jewish rabbis that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. The Jews were allowed only very limited responses. The result was that many Jews simply converted.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1414 THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE CONVENES; THE GREAT SCHISM ENDS
By 1414, the Great Schism with its three popes had become scandalous and intolerable. The German king, Sigismund (1361-1437), obliged the successor of Pope Alexander V (1339-1410)—Pope John XXIII (1370-1419)—to convoke a council. The Council of Constance was held in the city of Constance in Southern Germany and was the best attended of all the ecumenical councils. It convened on November 5, 1414, and ended on April 22, 1418. Germany, Spain, France, England, and Italy each had one vote. This council called for the resignation of Pope John XXIII amid questions of his personal conduct, following which Gregory XII (1327-1417) abdicated and Benedict XIII (1328-1423) was deposed. Although not adequately addressing church corruption, the council did elect Martin V (1368-1431) as the new pope. It also posthumously condemned the writings of John Wycliffe (1330-1384) and ordered the burning of reformers Jan Hus (1373-1415) and Jerome of Prague (1371-1416).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
A TALE OF MISPLACED TRUST
November 28, 1414
Trusting the wrong person can be a fatal mistake. Just ask Jan Hus.
Jan Hus took his last name from Husinec, the town in Southern Bohemia where he was born in 1373. As he studied for the priesthood at the University of Prague, he felt his spiritual ardor growing.
After his ordination in 1402, Hus was appointed preacher at Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. Shortly before this, the writings of the English reformer John Wycliffe had reached Prague. As Hus read the works of Wycliffe, he was drawn to the reformer's views.
Hus preached godliness and vigorously attacked the sins of the clergy, claiming, "These priests ... are drunks whose bellies growl with great drinking and are gluttons whose stomachs are overfilled until their double chins hang down." Needless to say this did not sit well with his fellow priests. But the people thronged to hear him.
Finally the pope published a decree condemning Bethlehem Chapel and calling for an investigation of the "heresies" of Wycliffe and Hus. As the pressure on him increased, Hus finally went into voluntary exile in 1412.
In 1414, Emperor Sigismund called a church council to be held in Constance in southern Germany. He invited Jan Hus, promising him safe conduct. Trusting the emperor's promise of protection, Hus accepted and arrived safely in Constance, but three weeks later on November 28, 1414, he heard a knock on his door. Two bishops came to arrest him, and soldiers surrounded the house.
Hus was taken away and locked in the dungeon of a convent. Beset with fever and vomiting, he was soon near death. He was saved only by a visit from the pope's physician.
Hus' supporters implored the emperor to honor his promise of safe conduct to Hus, but the emperor declared Hus to be the greatest heretic in history and therefore deserving of no protection.
Hus was brought to trial, and thirty charges were leveled against him. Many were completely frivolous, such as the charge that Hus claimed to be the fourth person of the Godhead. He rejected all the charges, but his denials were shouted down. The council sentenced him to be burned at the stake the same day. As the bishops ripped his vestments from his body, they cried, "We commit your soul to the devil."
When he was tied to the stake, he was given one last opportunity to recant. Hus replied, "God is my witness that... the principal intention of my preaching and of all my other acts or writings was solely that I might turn men from sin. And in that truth of the gospel... I am willing gladly to die today." As the flames shot up around him, he could be heard singing, "Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me."
The followers of Jan Hus down through the centuries developed into the Moravians, through whom John Wesley and tens of thousands of others were converted to Christ. Hus may have lost the battle, but not the war.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1415 JAN HUS IS BURNED AT THE STAKE
Jan Hus (1373-1415) was a priest and professor in Prague when he began being influenced by the writings of the reformer John Wycliffe (1330-1384). Hus started vigorously attacking the sins of the clergy of his day. His actions made him very popular among the people, but not so popular among his fellow priests. Hus was excommunicated and forced into exile, but he returned to Constance, Germany, to attend a church council after the emperor promised his protection. However, a few weeks later, on November 28, 1414, he was arrested, imprisoned, and the following year put on trial for heresy. He was found guilty and was burned at the stake the same day.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1418 THOMAS A KEMPIS WRITES THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
Born Thomas Hemerken in a town northwest of Cologne, Germany, Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471) and his brother were sent to the Netherlands to study with a religious order called the Brothers of the Common Life. There he was known as Thomas from Kempen, which became Thomas a Kempis. He became a monk, a copyist, and a religious writer of devotional tracts and books. His most well-known book is the devotional classic The Imitation of Christ. Originally written in Latin, within in a few years it was translated into French, German, English, and Spanish, and has had more than two thousand editions and printings.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1419 THE TABORITE MOVEMENT ENJOYS BRIEF SUCCESS
The Taborites were the most radical followers of Jan Hus (1373-1415). They came from southern Bohemia in the present-day Czech Republic, and were largely members of the lower classes. They believed that doctrine should be limited to the teaching of the Bible and rejected distinctions between priests and laity. They became a mass movement when forty thousand people assembled in July 1419 on a hill given the biblical name of Tabor. Led by military leader John Zizka (c. 1358-1424), the Taborites were able to defeat the imperial army sent to destroy them. However, their success lasted only a short while, and in 1434, an army of the Catholic nobles defeated the Taborites, ending the movement.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1420 CRUSADE TARGETS THE HUSSITES
The death of Jan Hus (1373-1415) in 1415 made him a martyr and a national hero in Bohemia. His followers, known as Hussites, couldn't agree on the extent of reforms needed within the Catholic Church and consequently split into two groups. The moderates, called the Calixtines or Utraquists from the Latin word meaning "both," were willing to remain within the Catholic Church if Communion could be served to the laity. The more radical Taborites would make no concessions to Rome. In 1420, Pope Martin V (1368-1431) gathered 150,000 men from across Europe for a crusade against Bohemia. Five times in the following twelve years they advanced against the Hussites and five times were defeated. Ultimately the Utraquists reconciled with the church, and Hussism largely died out. Many Hussite teachings lived on in the Bohemian and Moravian Brethren groups.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1431 JOAN OF ARC IS MARTYRED
Joan of Arc was born a peasant around 1412 in Domremy, France, during the Hundred Years' War when England sought to capture the French throne. From her early teens, Joan of Arc saw visions and heard voices telling her to liberate her country. She convinced young King Charles VII (1403-1461) of her special calling from heaven, insisting that France would prevail. With conviction and military genius, she led the French victoriously into battle at Orleans in 1429. Four other victories followed. Joan then led the king to Reims for his coronation. After that event, the voices and visions left her and she wished to return home. Returning to battle at the king's insistence, Joan was captured by England's allies and condemned as a heretic. Burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, the Maid of Orleans remains a national heroine of France.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1431 COUNCIL OF BASEL CONVENES
The Council of Basel, called by Pope Martin V (1368-1431), opened on July 23, 1431, and was characterized by the ongoing struggle for supremacy between the council and the pope. By 1433, the new pope, Eugene IV (1383-1447), recognized the authority of the council, which then turned its attention to the enactment of reforms, some of which limited the pope administratively and financially, and endeavored to bring reconciliation to the rebellion of the followers of the martyred Jan Hus (1373-1415) in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). However, the Conciliar Movement was dealt a severe blow when Pope Eugene IV transferred the council to Ferrara, Italy, in 1438, and later to Florence and Rome. In defiance, the majority of the council refused to go to Ferrara and elected an antipope, Felix V (d. 1451), who served from 1439 to 1449. Felix V found little support outside Savoy and Switzerland.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1439 COUNCIL OF FLORENCE CONVENES
After the separation between the Greek church in the East and the Latin church in the West became permanent in 1054, the Latin church pressed for reunification. Finally, the Greek church agreed to a meeting, hoping thereby to secure assistance against the advancing Turks. Pope Eugene IV (1383-1447) transferred the Council of Basel being held in Basel, Switzerland, to Ferrara, Italy, deeming Ferrara more accessible to the Greek leaders. The first common session was held on October 8, 1438. When the city of Florence, Italy, agreed to fund the council, it was moved to Florence in 1439 and became known as the Council of Florence. Council members signed a superficial decree of unity between the Eastern and Western churches on July 5, 1439, which proved to be only temporarily successful.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1449 TOLEDO BANS JEWS FROM HOLDING OFFICE
In 1449, the city council of Toledo, Spain, issued a law prohibiting Christian converts who came from Jewish descent from holding any official office within the city. In response to the council's decree, Pope Nicholas V (1397-1455) signed a papal decree that attempted to counter the false notion that Jews could not be transformed by Christian conversion. Although Nicholas V excommunicated those who instituted the ban in Toledo, within two years the king of Castile officially made the ban law for all of Castile. The end result was that Jews in Spain were legally defined by their bloodlines, and "Jewish" people, formerly defined as a religious group that included all adherents to Judaism, became a racial group instead.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1450 MOVABLE-TYPE PRINTING IS INVENTED
Johannes Gutenberg (1397-1468), born in Mainz, Germany, is acknowledged as the inventor of printing with movable type. Gutenberg was looking for faster ways of producing books, which up until then were produced slowly by copyists using quills and reeds or by printing with hand stamps and woodcuts. The Renaissance produced a tremendous hunger for learning, and these methods could not keep up with the demand for books. Gutenberg developed an oil-based ink and a typecasting machine that used a tin alloy to cast movable metal type. Wine, cheese, or olive oil presses were modified so that the huge screw pressed the printing block against the paper. Using this method, a printer could make identical copies of a book quite quickly—about three hundred per day. The printing press soon was to be used by God to fuel the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1450 THE RENAISSANCE SPREADS THROUGH EUROPE
The Renaissance, or "rebirth," started in Italy during the fourteenth century and spread throughout Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was typified by the spread of humanism, a return to classical values and the beginning of objective scientific inquiry. The invention of printing helped spread the new ideas. The presence of a wealthy leisured class made possible the patronage of artists and intellectuals. It became an age of transition between the Church-centered culture of the Middle Ages and modern civilization. For the church, the Renaissance can be dated from 1450, when Nicholas V (1397— 1455) was pope. He was known for his patronage of the arts and for his efforts to restore Rome and build the Vatican library. Tired of monastic asceticism and church restrictions on intellectual inquiry, Western Europe replaced heavenly considerations with earthly interests. The resulting intellectual and religious climate helped prepare the way for the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1453 THE BOHEMIAN BRETHREN ARE FORMED
The Bohemian Brethren, known later as the Moravian Brethren, were a group of Christians committed to fulfilling the law of Christ. The Brethren first formed under the preaching of Archbishop Rokycana (1390-1471) in Prague; they were later united with the followers of Peter Chelcicky (d. 1457). The Brethren society consisted of three groups: the beginners, the advanced, and the perfected (priests), who were held to a very high standard. The priests were to remain celibate, administer the seven sacraments, and maintain a high level of honesty and integrity. They eventually separated completely from the Catholic Church. The Brethren later expanded into synods and dioceses. During the mid-sixteenth century, persecution led to the dispersion of the Brethren into many isolated groups. Many of these groups were reunited later under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) in Germany.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1453 CONSTANTINOPLE FALLS TO THE TURKS
By the late 1300s, the Ottoman Turks (Turkish Muslims) had started to build an empire that was destined to cover much of the Middle East, as well as parts of North Africa and southeastern Europe. With Constantinople threatened by Muslim invasion, the Greek Orthodox Church had agreed at the Council of Florence in 1439 to reunification with the Roman Church. Largely motivated by the hope of reinforcement against the Turks, the Greeks were to be disappointed in the little aid they received. Constantinople fell on May 29, 1453, to the Ottoman forces led by Mohammad II (1430-1481). The Byzantine Empire was no more; the reunification of the Eastern and Western churches was shortlived. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul, meaning "to the city." Istanbul remained the capital of Turkey from 1453 until 1923 when Ankara replaced it.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1456 GUTENBERG PRODUCES THE FIRST PRINTED BIBLE
Mass production of books was made possible with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg (1397-1468). In Mainz, Germany, Gutenberg borrowed money from Johann Fust to finance his printing business. The first major book produced during the years 1453-1456 was the 42-line Gutenberg Bible, which was the Vulgate, Jerome's Latin translation of the Hebrew and Greek texts. No two Bibles were alike since each had large capital letters and ornamentation added by hand after it came off the press. It is believed that about 160-180 copies were printed; large portions of 48 still exist. The Library of Congress, the British Library, and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris each has an excellent copy printed on vellum.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1460 HENRY THE NAVIGATOR DIES
The Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), sent out more than fifty expeditions to explore the northwest coast of Africa but never went on one himself. The purpose of these voyages was to establish Portuguese colonies, to break the Muslim hold on trade, and to spread Christianity. Unfortunately, almost from the first, Africans were brought back to Europe as slaves. By his death on November 13, 1460, Henry had substantially advanced the knowledge of navigation. He made possible the later explorations of Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) and Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1478 POPE SIXTUS IV AUTHORIZES THE SPANISH INQUISITION Prodded by Queen Isabella (1451-1504), Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484) authorized the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Headed up by the Dominican order, the church hoped to identify and remove heresy among Christians. In 1483, Tomas de Torquemada (1420-1498) was appointed the Spanish Grand Inquisitor. He set up tribunals with such effectiveness that they lasted for three centuries. Persecution was leveled against Spanish Muslims called Moors, as well as Jews and Muslims who had been forced to convert to Christianity and who were suspected of duplicity. The grounds for arrest often were mere rumor, and all were presumed guilty until proven innocent. Torture was the primary means of extracting confessions, and burning was the principal means of execution. By Torquemada's death, two thousand had been executed as heretics under his authority.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1481 SAVONAROLA SPURS REVIVAL IN FLORENCE
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) was a Dominican friar who brought revival to Florence, Italy, in 1481. Both an intellectual and a man of deep piety, he was known for his asceticism, visions of ecstasy, and predictions of the future. Savonarola had been a preacher in Italy since 1845, steadily gaining influence and popularity. However, after having a vision of God's judgment on Florence, he took his message to the streets with increased passion. He moved large congregations to tears, had long lines outside of his church before services, and held huge bonfires to burn "sinful articles." Seemingly all of Florence got caught up in the popularity of his movement. Savonarola was influential even in setting up a new system of government after a French invasion. However, the revival and his popularity were short-lived. He was excommunicated for heresy and ultimately hanged in Florence.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1488 FIRST COMPLETE HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT IS PRINTED For hundreds of years, the Hebrew Scriptures—the Old Testament of modern Bibles—were preserved through the painstaking and careful work of scribes who handwrote copies to pass on from generation to generation. The diligent and accurate preservation of the Old Testament text is due largely to groups such as the Masoretes, a group of scribes who arose at the end of the fifth century. However, with Johann Gutenberg's (1397-1468) invention of the printing press around 1450, the transmission of these ancient texts became much easier and more efficient. On February 23, 1488, the first complete Hebrew Bible was printed in Soncino, Italy. For the first time the Old Testament Scriptures were available in Hebrew in large numbers.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 THE LAST MUSLIM MOORS ARE REMOVED FROM SPAIN The Moors were Islamic nomads from northwestern Africa. They joined the Arabs who came into Europe from North Africa in the seventh century, marching across the Pyrenees Mountains and advancing as far as Tours, France, before Charles Martel (689-741) defeated them in 732. They retreated to Spain, which then was divided into Islamic fiefdoms. Gradually, Christians took over power in the north and west of Spain. In the early thirteenth century, Christian kings joined to push the Moors out of central Spain, but they remained in the kingdom of Granada for three more centuries. Finally on January 2, 1492, the Moors in Granada surrendered to the army of King Ferdinand (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella (1451-1504). These were the years of the Spanish Inquisition, during which any Muslims who wished to remain in Spain were forced to convert to Christianity.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
A KING WHO THREW HIS WEIGHT AROUND
June 28, 1491
Have you ever noticed how God sometimes uses unlikely characters to play important roles in executing his plan? A case in point is the four-hundred-pound founder of the Episcopal Church,
He was born on June 28, 1491, the second son of King Henry VII of England. Named after his father, young Henry was trained for a career in the church since, as second son, he was not born to be king. However, when his older brother, Arthur, died in 1502, young Henry became the heir apparent.
Henry was just seventeen when his father died and he began to reign as King Henry VII. Honoring his father's dying request, he married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, thus maintaining the alliance between England and Spain. Two weeks after their wedding in 1509, they were crowned king and queen of England. Henry turned over the management of his realm to his ministers, in particular to Thomas Wolsey, his chaplain. In 1515, Wolsey was made a cardinal by the pope and lord chancellor by Henry.
In the early years of his reign, Henry was concerned with two issues: the spreading Reformation and his inability to sire a male heir. In ecclesiastical matters, Henry VIII strongly supported the pope against the Reformation. In 1521, he coauthored a book, Defense of the Seven Sacraments, which became a best seller throughout Europe.
As Henry VIII grew older and larger, his preoccupation with his lack of a male heir grew. Catherine of Aragon bore him six children, but only one, Mary Tudor, survived infancy. To Henry, it was unthinkable that a girl would succeed him. When Catherine turned forty in 1526, it was obvious to Henry that she never would bear him a son.
By 1527, Henry was in love with twenty-year-old Anne Boleyn, the younger sister of an earlier mistress. Cardinal Wolsey tried to arrange a divorce from Catherine with the pope, but the issue dragged on for years. Finally, Henry defiantly took things into his own hands and made himself head of the Church of England. He felt it was the only way he could divorce Catherine. Henry named Thomas Cranmer, who had been influenced by Lutheranism, archbishop of Canterbury, and Cranmer reciprocated by granting Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Before his divorce was final, Henry married Anne Boleyn, who was to be the second of his six wives.
More importantly for the future, Henry enacted a series of laws permanently separating the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. Today, the Church of England is known in the United States as the Episcopal Church and elsewhere as the Anglican Church.
Henry himself may never have subscribed to any Protestant doctrines and his motives may have been self-serving, yet God used him to begin the Reformation in England.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 FERDINAND AND ISABELLA ISSUE SPAIN'S EDICT OF EXPULSION
King Ferdinand (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella (1451-1504), desiring to create an entirely Catholic nation, sought to erase Judaism from Spain. In spite of pleas from their Jewish advisors, they issued the Edict of Expulsion on March 31, 1492, which decreed that every Jew who would not immediately be baptized had to leave Spain by August 2, 1492. Of the two hundred thousand Jews still living in Spain, many decided to be baptized, but one hundred thousand fled to Portugal and another fifty thousand went to North Africa or Turkey. Others went to the Netherlands, the only Christian country that would receive them. On the Jewish calendar, August 2 is the ninth day of the month of Ab, the same day on which the destruction of the Jewish temple occurred in 586 BC and again in AD 70.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA
In a time when the meanings of names were taken seriously, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), named after St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, believed that he was to take the name of Christ to foreign lands that did not know of him. Columbus became convinced that sailing west would be a much quicker route to the Far East. He eventually persuaded King Ferdinand (1452-1516) and Queen Isabella (1451-1504) of Spain to finance his journey to the Orient. On August 3, 1492, Columbus boarded the Santa Mariaand set sail. On the morning of October 11, 1492, after three strenuous months at sea and with the crew on the brink of mutiny, a lookout spotted land. Setting foot on an island he named San Salvador, meaning "Holy Savior," Columbus' prayer was that "Thy holy name may be proclaimed in this second part of the earth."
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1492 PAPAL CORRUPTION PEAKS WITH ALEXANDER VI
Through bribery and political intrigue, a Spaniard named Rodrigo Borgia was elected Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) in 1492. Thirty-seven years previously, his uncle Callistus III (1378-1458), pope from 1455 to 1458, named him archbishop of Valencia when Alexander was only twenty-five years old. Alexander VI was able, hardworking, handsome, and imposing, but he used his papacy to serve his own desires. He did much for the arts, and for the architecture and streets of Rome; however, he was preoccupied with furthering the marriages and careers of his numerous illegitimate children by several mistresses. His pontificate was directed almost solely by family and political aspirations, and he was responsible for the execution of Savonarola (1452-1498). This most corrupt papacy ended with his death in 1503.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE OTHER DEPARTURE OF 1492
August 2, 1492
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue—but another departure from Spain also transpired in 1492, which for some was more momentous than the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
In 1469, Ferdinand, son of the king of Aragon, married his cousin Isabella, daughter of the king of Castile. Together they ruled a united Spain, and together they defeated the Muslim Moors, ending Islam's presence in Europe.
In 1479, Ferdinand and Isabella introduced the Inquisition in Spain, a tribunal to identify and remove heresy. The Jews of Spain were a particular target. Many Jews, while secretly adhering to Judaism, outwardly professed Christianity and were baptized to save their lives. The Spaniards derisively referred to them as marranos, from the word for "swine." The marranos had the legal rights of Catholic citizens, yet it was well known that privately many were still practicing Jews.
The Spanish Inquisition targeted all kinds of suspected enemies of the church, but the majority were Jews. In total the Spanish Inquisition punished 341,000 people. Over 32,000 were burned to death. The final indignity forced on the Jews was the Edict of Expulsion signed by Ferdinand and Isabella. It decreed that every Jew who would not immediately be baptized had to leave Spain within three months of the deadline of August 2, 1492.
At this time there were still two hundred thousand Jews living in Spain. Many decided to be baptized, including the senior rabbi and a majority of the leading families. Approximately one hundred thousand fled to Portugal only to be expelled four years later. Another fifty thousand crossed the straits to North Africa or sailed to Turkey. Others went to the Netherlands, the only Christian country that would receive them.
Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain half an hour before sunrise on August 3, with his Jewish secretary Luis Torres, who had been baptized. Columbus always signed his name Colon, a common name among the marranos of Genoa, his home, evidence that Columbus may have been a Hebrew Christian himself.
August 2, 1492, was the ninth day of the month Ab on the Hebrew calendar. This was the same day as the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 586 BC, beginning the exile among the Babylonians and the same day as the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in AD 70, beginning the exile among the Gentiles. It was also the same day that the Jews were expelled from England in 1290.
The persecution and exile of the Jews from Spain was the most momentous event for Judaism between the middle of the second century AD and the Holocaust. The Spanish Jews have become known as the Sephardi Jews (a corruption of an old word for Spain). They remained dispersed until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1493 POPE ALEXANDER VI DIVIDES THE WORLD BETWEEN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) had the reputation of being one of the most corrupt popes of his day. He did, however, clarify the land rights of Spain and Portugal, the two sea powers in the New World. As pope, he felt he had the authority to establish ownership of the lands in newly discovered America. After Columbus (1451-1506) returned from his first voyage in spring 1493, the pope decreed in two bulls to divide the New World between Spain and Portugal. The dividing line was negotiated a year later when representatives of the two countries met at Tordesillas, Spain. The Treaty of Tordesillas made the line of demarcation about 1, 295 miles east of the Cape Verde Islands, which gave most of Brazil to Portugal and the rest of South America to Spain.
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1493 POPE ALEXANDER VI AUTHORIZES MISSIONS TO NEW WORLD
New horizons for Christian missions opened up with the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). From the time of Columbus on, expansion would carry a dual religious and political flavor. In 1493, Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) issued a bull charging King Ferdinand with the responsibility "to bring the Christian faith to the peoples who inhabit these islands and the mainland, and to send to the said islands and to the mainland wise, Godfearing, and virtuous men who will be capable of instructing the indigenous people in good morals and in the Catholic faith." Immediately, missionary priests began accompanying the explorers to the New World.
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1497 SAVONAROLA IS EXCOMMUNICATED
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), a prior at the Convent of San Marco in Florence, Italy, became the city's spiritual leader. He had become very popular among the people due to his attempts to reform church and state by boldly denouncing the abuses of the clergy and the evils of the ruling class. When Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) ordered Savonarola to discontinue all preaching, he disobeyed. On May 13, 1497, Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola from the church on the grounds that he had disobeyed his commands. The following year Savonarola was tried for sedition and heresy and was tortured. He was then hanged and his body publicly burned.
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1497 PORTUGUESE JEWS ARE FORCED INTO MASS CONVERSION
Following their expulsion from Spain in 1492, approximately fifty thousand Jews crossed the border and sought refuge in Portugal. Unfortunately, Judaism remained legal in Portugal only four more years. In 1496, the king of Portugal outlawed Judaism, but when the Jews attempted to leave, he prevented them from doing so. On March 19, 1497, the king forced all of them to be baptized. Life for those baptized Jews was easier in Portugal than in Spain, allowing them to secretly preserve their Jewish heritage. This difference in level of persecution was aided also by Portugal's lax approach to the Inquisition.
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1497 VASCO DA GAMA REACHES INDIA WITH MISSIONARIES Because overland routes to India and the Far East in the fifteenth century were blocked by the Ottoman Turks, an all-water route was needed. To establish a route between Europe and India and to spread Christianity, Admiral Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) left Lisbon, Portugal, on July 8, 1497, and followed Bartolomeu Diaz's earlier route down the west coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and then on into uncharted waters. He set out in four ships, accompanied by a number of missionary priests and with a staff mostly of convicts. Arriving in India he found—in addition to Muslims, Hindus, and Jews—Christians who claimed that their church had been founded by the apostle Thomas. Vasco da Gama made two other trips to India, dying at sea on December 24, 1524, during his third voyage.
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TORTURE IN THE NAME OF CHRIST
September 16, 1498
What makes a religious person cruel?
Tomas de Torquemada had good religious genes. Born in Spain in 1420, he was the nephew of a prominent cardinal. After entering a Dominican monastery, Torquemada was made prior of another monastery. Subsequently, he was appointed confessor to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella, best known for sponsoring Christopher Colum-bus' voyage.
Back in 1163, Pope Alexander IV had encouraged princes and bishops to imprison heretics and confiscate their property. And beginning in 1231, Pope Gregory IX set up the Inquisition, a special church tribunal for combating heresy.
Prodded by Queen Isabella of Spain, Pope Sixtus IV authorized the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. No nation during this time period was more interested in keeping the Catholic faith pure than Spain. In 1483, Torquemada was appointed the Spanish grand inquisitor and became the most powerful person in Spain after the king and queen. In 1487, the persecution was leveled against the Spanish Muslims, called Moors, and Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity who were suspected of duplicity. The conversion of the Muslims and the Jews to Christianity had been forced in almost all cases.
The Inquisition in Spain began by offering heretics the Edict of Grace, a period of thirty to forty days during which they could identify themselves and, on their confession, be assured of a pardon. The catch was that those who confessed their heresies, called penitentes, were forced to take a vow to reveal other heretics.
The grounds for a person's arrest were accusation by another, or even mere rumor. A person was assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. Torture was used regularly. Even when there was sufficient testimony from others to convict the accused, the victim was still tortured to extract a confession. Torture also was used to acquire names of additional heretics.
From the beginning, the primary means of execution was by fire. The tribunal established at Ciudad Real in 1483 burned 52 heretics in two years. When the Inquisition moved to Toledo in 1485, 750 penitentes were marched into the cathedral to be told that one-fifth of their property had been confiscated. Next the tribunal went to Avila, where 75 were burned at the stake and 26 corpses were exhumed and burned.
By the time of Torquemada's death, on September 16, 1498, two thousand heretics had been executed under his authority. The great irony is that Torquemada died hiding the fact that he himself had Jewish blood.
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1498 LEONARDO DA VINCI PAINTS THE LAST SUPPER
Born in Florence, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the illegitimate son of a notary and a peasant woman. In 1482, he entered the service of the Duke of Milan. In Milan from 1495 to 1498, he painted his masterpiece The Last Supper on the refectory wall of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The scene of the Last Supper is unusual in that it contrasts the calm peacefulness of the figure of Christ with the emotional turmoil seen in the disciples at the moment of betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Leonardo spent his last days near Amboise in France, where King Francis I (1494-1547) invited him to be a member of the court.
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