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1501 PETRUCCI FIRST PRINTS MUSIC WITH MOVABLE TYPE
Soon after the invention of the printing press in 1453, simple musical compositions began to be printed. Ottaviano dei Petrucci of Venice was the first to publish more complex compositions with movable metal type. Petrucci (1466-1539) used a three-step process to print music. First the words were printed, then the staves, and finally the notes. Petrucci's work made musical compositions more accessible, enabling church music to progress from simple tunes and Gregorian chants to the more complex works of Haydn and Bach.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1506 WORK BEGINS ON ST. PETER'S BASILICA
In 1506, Pope Julius II (1443-1513) began construction on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The basilica was located on the traditional site of Peter's crucifixion, and his tomb is said to be under the central altar. Michelangelo (1475-1564), who was one of a number of artists to contribute to the basilica's construction, designed its dome. The church, which was completed in 1615 under Pope Paul V (1552-1621), is one of the largest in the world. Early in the project the pope commissioned Johann Tetzel (1465-1519) to raise money for construction by selling indulgences. The church claimed that the purchase of an indulgence allowed the merit of Christ and the saints to be transferred to a soul in purgatory, thus shortening its time there. Martin Luther (1483-1546) wrote his Ninety-Five Theses against this practice of selling indulgences.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1512 FIFTH LATERAN COUNCIL CONVENES
The Lateran Councils were ecumenical church councils that convened in the Church of St. John Lateran in Rome. In 1512, Pope Julius II (c.1443-1513) called for the Fifth Lateran Council. The pope summoned the church together as a response to the Council of Pisa (1511-1512), which had convened without papal authority and commissioning. Though needing to address clerical abuses, corruption, usury, and overall church reform, the council focused primarily on issues of protocol, authority, and the governing structure surrounding the gathering of councils. The failure of the pope and council to address the church's need for reform prepared the way for Martin Luther (1483-1546) to launch the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1512 MICHELANGELO COMPLETES THE SISTINE CHAPEL According to his own account, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) initially was hesitant to undertake painting the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. However, at the papal court's urging, Michelangelo began work on the ceiling in 1508. He planned and worked on the project for more than four years. Covering more than ten thousand square feet of surface, the work includes hundreds of characters, some as large as twelve feet high, and depicts a timeline of the biblical account from creation to the second coming of Christ. The finished product has come to be known as one of the single greatest artistic achievements of all time.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1513 LEO X BECOMES POPE
In a span of three days, Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1521) received holy orders, was consecrated as a bishop, and was crowned Pope Leo X of the Catholic Church on March 17, 1513. Chosen as a relief to the harsh policies and attitude of the previous pope, Julius II (c.1443-1513), Leo strove for peace within the church and the empire. A classic embodiment of the Renaissance, Leo delighted in the arts and humanist learning. His penchant for spending, however, led the church into more and more debt. As a result, Leo supported the sale of indulgences as a way to raise funds for the church. Martin Luther (1483-1546) would open the doors of reformation when he nailed his famous Ninety-Five Theses to the Cathedral door in Wittenberg, Germany, to attack the church's practice of indulgences.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1513 RAPHAEL PAINTS SISTINE MADONNA
Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520), one of the greatest pupils of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Michelangelo (1475-1564), is best known for his vivid and powerful paintings of the Madonna and the life of Christ. Commissioned by Pope Julius II (1443-1513) in about 1513, Raphael began working on an altar-piece that would be titled the Sistine Madonna. This work—first presented in Piacenza, a newly established city in the Papal States—depicts the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus seemingly floating through the very frame of the picture, suggesting an infinite lightness and absence of mortality in these two holy figures. Raphael's artistic style and talent has become the benchmark for biblical art.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1514 BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS CONVERTS
Bartolome de las Casas (1474-1566) was born in 1474 in Seville, Spain. In 1502, he went to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, and he was ordained there as a priest in 1507. Several years after his profound conversion to Jesus Christ in 1514, he became a champion of the American Indians, seeking to end their slavery, to encourage their conversion, and to further their humane treatment. Even after returning to Spain in 1547, he worked tirelessly to improve the Indians' quality of life. He was a pioneer in the cause of human rights.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1516 THE FIRST ITALIAN GHETTO IS ESTABLISHED IN VENICE
In 1516, the city of Venice portioned off a neighborhood specifically for Jews. The Venetian ghetto, the first to be established in Italy, not only confined the Jewish population but became the model for such ghettos throughout Italy. In 1555, Pope Paul IV (1476-1559) commanded the separation of Jews from the rest of the Italian population, making ghettos a standard feature in Rome and papal territories. The typical Italian ghetto was surrounded by a gated wall, and the Jews were required to remain inside it at night. Starting with the first ghetto in Venice, Italy continued to require ghettos in major cities and small towns until 1732.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1516 OTTOMAN TURKS CONQUER PALESTINE
The Ottomans, a Turkish dynasty dating back to about 1300, conquered Constantinople in 1453. In 1516, the Turks defeated the Egyptian armies, giving them control not only of Syria but of Palestine as well. The presence of the Ottoman Empire, an enemy of Europe, brought unity to the Middle East, and their influence often benefited the Jews in the area. The Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), used his power in the region to build the walls that still surround Jerusalem. The flag of the Ottoman Empire flew over Palestine for four centuries, until World War II.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1516 ERASMUS PUBLISHES THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
The Renaissance spurred a resurgence of interest in the classics. This interest extended to the study of original languages. Francisco Jime'nez de Cisneros (1437-1517) began work in Spain to publish the first polyglot, or multi-translation, Bible including the Greek. By 1514, the New Testament was completed, but publishing delays prevented it from being released immediately. During this time, Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, entered the race to publish the first Greek New Testament. Working with insufficient and incomplete manuscripts, Erasmus completed his Greek Testament in ten months, making it available for publication by 1516, beating the release of Jimenez's text. Though containing many errors, Erasmus' work challenged the Vulgate's supremacy and was the Greek text used by Martin Luther (1483-1546) and William Tyndale (1494-1536) to translate the New Testament into German and English.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE REFORMATION ERA
1517—1648
Reform came with a fury. Martin Luther sounded the trumpet, and hosts of others rallied to the cause. The period we call the Reformation marks the mobilization of Protestantism: Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Anabaptist. By the mid-sixteenth century the Reformation had shattered the traditional unity of Western Europe and had bequeathed to modern times religious pluralism. The Church of Rome resisted this attack on tradition and mustered new troops, especially the Society of Jesus. The church sent out fresh waves of missionaries to Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and waged war in France, the Netherlands, and Germany. But in the end, Christendom slipped into yesteryear. In its place arose the denominational concept of the church, which allowed modern nations to treat the churches as voluntary societies separated from the state.
BRUCE L. SHELLEY
1519-21—Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigates the earth
1521—Hernando Cortes conquers Mexico's Aztec Empire
1531—First stock exchange established in Antwerp
1562—English enter slave trade
1590—Telescope invented
1607—English colony established
1631—Mount Vesuvius erupts, at Jamestown destroying towns in Bayonne, France
1647—Bayonet invented
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1517 LUTHER'S NINETY-FIVE THESES LAUNCH THE REFORMATION
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. He had become convinced of justification by faith alone and therefore felt compelled to protest against the indulgence system of the church. In the Roman Catholic Church it was claimed that indulgences remitted the debt of temporal punishment owed to God after the guilt of the sin was forgiven. Indulgences were being sold in Germany by a Dominican friar named Johann Tetzel (1465-1519). Luther's theses were ninety-five arguments against the indulgences. His theses created an explosion of antichurch sentiment among the people and triggered many attempts by the church to silence him. However, Luther would not be silenced, claiming the supremacy of Scripture's authority over any ecclesiastical authority. Luther's Ninety-Five Theses marked the beginning of the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1521 LUTHER DEFENDS HIMSELF AT THE DIET OF WORMS
After Martin Luther (1483-1546), a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in 1517, the church excommunicated him in January 1521, but agreed to hear his arguments that spring. On April 17, 1521, Luther came to the Diet of Worms to state his case; however, the assembly refused to hear him and demanded that he recant his writings. After a night of prayer, the next day Luther boldly refused to recant, stating, "I am bound by the Scriptures I have cited, for my conscience is captive to the Word of God.... I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me. Amen." The fire of Reformation would continue to blaze.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1521 PHILIP MELANCHTHON'S LOCI COMMUNES IS PUBLISHED Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was a professor of Greek at the University of Wittenberg when he embraced the cause of Martin Luther (1483-1546). Melanchthon was the son of George Scharzerd, but when he was young his great uncle gave him the Greek name Melanchthon, meaning "black earth." Melanchthon became the temporary leader of the Reformation when Luther was forced into hiding at Wartburg Castle after the Diet of Worms in 1521. That same year, Melanchthon released his first edition of Loci Communes, which was the first systematic exposition of Lutheran theology. It dealt primarily with justification by faith, the bondage of the will, and the relationship between the law and the gospel.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
FROM HEAD TO HEART
December 27, 1518
Theological ideas alone cannot save, but they can be the seeds of spiritual transformation.
Ulrich Zwingli was not born an idealistic revolutionary. Although he was intelligent and well educated, it was his training not his spiritual passion that led him into the ministry. In short, the ideas of the Early Church Fathers made sense to Zwingli, but he lacked true spiritual devotion.
This rift between head and heart manifested itself when, amid his persuasive sermons and popular ministry in the Swiss town of Glarus, someone exposed Zwingli's wanton relationship with a mistress. His conscience was pricked but not yet transformed. At this time, Zwingli reluctantly accepted a post at Einsiedeln, a monastery and place of pilgrimage.
As he preached about God's grace, Zwingli began to find the rituals and trappings of the Roman Catholic Church lacking, and he publicly denounced the local seller of papal indulgences. Surmising that grace could not be bought and sold, Zwingli sought the Scriptures for an understanding of free grace.
Only God knows when Zwingli discovered this saving grace for himself, but at Einsiedeln, Zwingli publicly confessed his own sins and declared Christ's saving grace to be sufficient. Soon, officials from Zurich noticed his powerful oratory. They had reservations about his past reputation, but he appeared changed. They soon invited him to become priest at the Zurich Great Church. He arrived in Zurich on December 27, 1518.
Zwingli entered a city primed for the Reformation. His employers had little idea they were hiring a Reformer, and Zwingli himself might not have known how much he would change. Zurich's citizens, known for their fine army and penchant for political independence, were drawn to their new preacher.
Zwingli found himself preaching in the marketplace on Fridays so the crowds from surrounding villages might hear him. He proclaimed the sufficiency of faith in Christ, the deficiency of superstition and indulgences, the necessity of true repentance and godly living, and the importance of caring for the poor and needy, the widow and orphan.
And widows and orphans there would be. In the summer of 1519, the plague arrived in Zurich. Three out of ten people died. Zwingli diligently ministered throughout the ravaged city. While attending to the sick and dying, he also became ill and nearly died.
Zwingli eventually recovered and went on to become the leading figure in the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. But it was just a matter of time before war broke out between Protestants and the armies of the pope. A lifelong military chaplain, Zwingli died on the Kappel battlefield in 1531, defending a threatened freedom: the preaching of the gospel he had come to know and love.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1522 LUTHER TRANSLATES THE NEW TESTAMENT INTO GERMAN After posting his Ninety-Five Theses, Martin Luther (1483-1546) experienced great opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1521, following the Diet of Worms, Luther went into hiding in Wartburg Castle, protected by the elector, Frederick the Wise (1463-1525). While in hiding, Luther took the opportunity to translate the New Testament from Greek into German. He completed the New Testament in the fall of 1522, and then translated the Old Testament from Hebrew, eventually finishing it in 1534. Luther's German Bible was as much a force in the German-speaking world as the King James Version later became in the English-speaking world.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1523 DAVID REUBENI APPEARS IN ITALY
In 1523, a young Jew from Ethiopia came to Venice proclaiming that he was a descendant of King David and a prince of the lost tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, which he said were living in Ethiopia. As a result he became known as David Reubeni (d. 1538). He claimed he was sent by God to deliver the Holy Land from the Ottoman Empire. Next he traveled to Portugal where he attracted many followers among the Marranos, the Jews who had accepted Christian baptism. One of his followers, Solomon Molcho (d. 1532), was inspired to proclaim himself as the Messiah in Rome in 1530, and was burned alive two years later by the Inquisition. Reubeni was burned in Spain as a heretic in 1538.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1523 ZWINGLI LEADS THE SWISS REFORMATION
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) was a scholar and priest who had served in the papal armies. In 1518, he became priest at the Great Church in Zurich. In this position Zwingli began a vast reform movement in 1523. The Zurich city council eventually broke with the diocese of Constance and adopted Zwingli's Sixty-Seven Articles, which radically changed church practices in terms of authority, worship, and sacraments. Zwingli's Swiss Reformation was more radical than the Lutheran reform movement, especially on the issues of public worship and the sacraments. Zwingli was the founder of the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. He died in the battle of Kappel in 1531.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE DIET OF WORMS
April 17, 1521
It wasn't some kind of crazy fad diet.
Europe was in a state of flux during the early 1500s. The Renaissance celebrated humanism and undermined contemporary Christian culture. A threat to the church came from Martin Luther.
Luther, a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, was forthright about his convictions regarding justification by faith, papal authority, and the sacraments. The Reformation had begun when Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517. The Theses consisted of ninety-five distinct propositions arguing against the supreme power of the pope, the greed within the church, and the abuse of indulgences. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Luther in January 1521. This move served to fuel rather than diminish public support for Luther.
Because of Luther's popularity, Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, agreed to hear his arguments at a diet, a meeting of the empire's parliament, which was scheduled for the spring of 1521 in Worms, Germany. Representatives from the church wanted Luther arrested and condemned to death as a heretic without a trial. However, Luther was promised that he would be protected and given a fair trial at the diet.
At four o'clock in the afternoon on April 17, 1521, Luther arrived triumphantly in Worms. It was a dramatic contrast: Luther, a simple monk, standing before the powerful sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire. He was confronted immediately with a pile of his books and asked whether he acknowledged authorship of the writings. He quietly responded, "The books are all mine." They pressed him further, asking whether he would stand by them or recant anything in them. Luther was shocked, because he had been promised a hearing of his beliefs, not a demand for recantation. He replied, "This touches God and his Word. This affects the salvation of souls. Of this Christ said, 'He who denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father.' To say too little or too much would be dangerous. I beg you, give me time to think it over." After some deliberation and even though they felt he didn't deserve it, Luther was granted a one-day delay.
Luther spent the evening in prayer, carefully preparing his response. At six o'clock the following evening, he gave his famous answer: "Unless I am convinced by the testi-mony of Scripture or by clear reason (for I trust neither pope nor council alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have cited, for my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything since to act against one's conscience is neither safe nor right. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me. Amen."
These famous words reverberated throughout the Reformation, inspiring many others to take their stand as well.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1524 THE PEASANTS' REVOLT ERUPTS
A revolutionary mass movement among German peasants began when the rulers laid taxes on them. Martin Luther's condemnation of the greedy clergy and princes helped ignite the uprising. The revolt lasted from June 1524 until May 1525. As many as three hundred thousand peasants participated in the uprising. Their agenda was to eliminate feudal dues and serfdom, reform the courts, modify tithes, and institute congregational election of pastors. Luther (1483-1546) strongly opposed the revolt, and this, combined with its poor direction and organization, led to the peasants' defeat. The Peasants' Revolt was detrimental to the Reformation. The Catholic Church portrayed the peasants' defeat as a divine judgment against Protestantism, turning the disillusioned peasants against Luther. As a result, the Reformation lost its appeal among the lower classes.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1525 THE ANABAPTIST MOVEMENT BEGINS
Often called the Swiss radicals or the left wing of the Reformation, the Anabaptists separated from Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) over the issue of infant baptism. They believed that only those who could understand and publicly confess their faith should be baptized. The movement, originally called the Swiss Brethren, originated and flourished in Zurich, Switzerland, under the leadership of Conrad Grebel (1498-1526) and Felix Manz (1498-1527). It then spread to Germany, Moravia, and the Netherlands. The Anabaptist movement began on January 21, 1525, when Grebel and Manz held their first adult "believer's baptism." Persecution quickly followed. Grebel died after being imprisoned in 1526, and the following year Manz was drowned in the Liemat River, the first Protestant martyred by other Protestants. The Anabaptists were predecessors of the Mennonite movement.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1525 THOMAS MÜNZER IS EXECUTED
Thomas Münzer (1490-1525) was a radical figure in the Reformation who became a leader in the Peasants' Revolt of 1524-1525. Initially he had been an associate of Martin Luther (1483-1546) and then received a call to preach at Zwickau, Germany, where he came in contact with a radical group called the Zwickau Prophets. However, he fell out of favor with them due to his violent anticlerical beliefs and his opposition to infant baptism. He then became a leader of the Peasants' Revolt. When the peasants were decisively defeated at Frankenhausen, Germany, in 1525, Münzer was captured and executed.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1525 TYNDALE'S NEW TESTAMENT IS PUBLISHED
While William Tyndale (1494-1536) was in school at Cambridge University in England, he embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. He also became convinced that in order for England to be evangelized, the people must have the Bible in English. Tyndale petitioned the bishop of London for permission to produce an English translation, but he was denied. Soon thereafter, Tyndale left England for Antwerp. There he translated the Scriptures into English while he was financed and protected by a group of English merchants. In 1525, he printed his first English New Testament. After being condemned for his actions in 1528, Tyndale was finally arrested in 1535 and executed the following year. However, Tyndale's legacy lives on, for his translation was the foundation for the King James Version, as well as the Revised Standard and the English Standard Versions that followed it.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1527 SATTLER IS MARTYRED FOR HIS SCHLEITHEIM CONFESSION OF FAITH
On February 24, 1527, the Anabaptists in Switzerland approved a confession of faith written by one of their leaders, Michael Sattler (d. 1527). The document, which was called the Brotherly Agreement of Some Children of God, was unanimously approved by those in attendance. The document contained seven major articles. The first was that baptism is reserved for those who make a trustworthy profession of repentance. The second article stated that any member who continues in sin after two warnings would be excluded from the fellowship. The third clause reserved the Lord's Table for baptized believers. The fourth called for separation from the world. The fifth article summarized the requirements for the pastorate. The sixth article banned church members from participating in military service. The final section prohibits the taking of oaths. Soon after the confession was approved, Sattler, like many other Anabaptists, was martyred.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
TWO OF A KIND
February 24,1527
Michael and Margaretha Sattler's convictions consistently took them down the road less traveled and more dangerous.
Michael Sattler was a Catholic priest in southern Germany in the 1520s and Margaretha a member of a lay order in the Catholic Church. The two were of one mind regarding their faith in God and their love for each other. They boldly broke their vows of celibacy, married, and joined the fledgling religious movement known as the Anabaptists.
The Sattlers were attracted to the movement because it considered obedience to God to be of primary importance. They were also attracted to the movement because of its belief in believer's baptism and strict pacifism.
As Michael became an Anabaptist leader, he saw the need for structure within the movement, which needed written guidelines in order to preserve freedom, set boundaries, and protect themselves against fanatics. In Schleitheim, Germany, on February 24, 1527, Michael Sattler brought together a small group of Anabaptist leaders, who wrote and adopted seven articles of faith, which they called the "Brotherly Union." They now had an organized church.
Michael went to Rottenburg, where officials seized the "Brotherly Union" papers from him. Nineteen people, including Michael and Margaretha, were arrested and tried for violations of Catholic doctrine and practice such as baptism, the Eucharist, unction, and veneration of the saints. Michael was also charged with leaving his monastery, marrying, and promoting a pacifist attitude toward the Turks.
In court Michael refuted the charges except the last, for he did believe in a pacifist approach to the Turks. He insisted that the Anabaptists had done nothing against the Bible and requested a debate with the Catholic leaders. Sattler asserted that if he and the other Anabaptists could be proved in error, they would gladly accept their punishment. "But if we are not shown to be in error, I hope to God that you will accept teaching and be converted." The court did not take kindly to the suggestion of his "teaching" them and came back with the sentence: "Michael Sattler shall be committed to the hangman, who shall take him to the square and there first cut out his tongue, then chain him to a wagon, tear his body twice with hot tongs there and five times more before the gate, then burn his body to powder as an arch-heretic."
During his excruciating execution, Michael prayed with slurred speech, "Almighty, eternal God, Thou art the way and the truth; because I have not been shown to be in error, I will with Thy help on this day testify to the truth and seal it with my blood."
After Michael's death the authorities tried in vain to persuade Margaretha to recant, but she declared that she would forever remain true to her Lord and to her husband. Eight days after Michael's execution, Margaretha was drowned in the Neckar River that passes through Rottenburg.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1529 COLLOQUY OF MARBURG IS CALLED
The Colloquy of Marburg was called in 1529 by the Reformers in Marburg, Germany, to form a united front against Roman Catholicism. The main issue was the Lord's Supper. Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) argued that the bread and wine were symbols of Christ, and that Communion was a sign of the grace that already had been bestowed upon the believer. Luther (1483-1546) and his supporters took Christ's words literally rather than metaphorically, insisting on a real presence of Christ in the elements. The group came to a general agreement on many important doctrines and issued fifteen articles that stated their position. In spite of their agreements, the colloquy overall served to divide rather than unite Protestantism. Disagreements about the Lord's Supper set the pattern for denominational differences that continue today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1529 PROTESTANTS EMERGE AT THE DIET OF SPEYER
The term Protestant was first used in 1529 at the Diet of Speyer, the Holy Roman Empire's parliament meeting in Speyer along the Rhine River in Bavaria (present-day Germany). There, several German princes signed a formal protest to Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) challenging his demand that the rulers of Germany enforce the 1521 Edict of Worms that had declared Luther and his followers to be outlaws. The signatories became known as Protestants, and the name came to be applied to all who left the Catholic Church to join the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1529 TURKS BESIEGE VIENNA
After becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Charles V (1500-1558) began fighting vigorously to suppress the Lutheran movement and eliminate Protestantism throughout Europe. In 1529, just as Charles was preparing to take action against the Lutherans in his German territories, the Muslim Turks—led by Suleiman (1494-1566)—attacked Vienna, the capital of Charles' Austrian territories. The city of Vienna was vitally important to Germany, because if it were to fall to the Turks, Germany itself would be left vulnerable to Turkish attack. Therefore, Emperor Charles set aside his religious differences with his German subjects, and German Protestant forces joined Charles in fighting the Turks. Because of this coalition, they were able to force Suleiman and the Turkish army to withdraw from Vienna.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE REEK OF PATRICK HAMILTON
February 29, 1528
He was Scotland's first.
Born around 1503, Patrick Hamilton was from a Scottish noble family. He was a distant relative of King James V and therefore, technically, royalty. During his short life, he passed a number of milestones in rapid succession. When a teenager, he was appointed the titular abbot of Ferne in Ross-shire, then entered the University of Paris and graduated in 1520.
In Paris, Hamilton was exposed to the teachings of Martin Luther that were spreading across Europe. He returned to Scotland in 1523, unhappy with the Roman Catholic Church, but as the second son, he was expected to pursue the study of theology. He entered St. Leonard's College at St. Andrews that same year, excited about Luther's teaching of justification by faith.
By 1525, books containing the heresies of Luther were forbidden by the Scottish Parliament. The next year, Patrick Hamilton let it be known publicly that he believed those doctrines. In response to an accusation of heresy in 1527, he went abroad to avoid further problems with the church.
However, this trip only served to strengthen his resolve as a follower of Luther. He went to Wittenberg, Germany, and personally met both Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. He also met William Tyndale, who was translating the Bible into English. While in Germany he wrote a short book entitled Common Places, which explained the principles and doctrines of the Reformation, emphasizing, in particular, justification by faith in Christ alone.
Soon he returned to Scotland, where he began preaching the doctrines of the Reformation. His preaching and family connections made him a considerable threat to the Roman Catholic Church, and in January 1528, Hamilton was called to meet with Archbishop Beaton and other Catholic theologians at St. Andrews. He was examined and sent home—perhaps in the hope that he would further incriminate himself or leave the country to save himself.
A month later, he again was summoned to appear before the archbishop and his council on thirteen charges of heresy. He was convicted and sentenced to be burned at the stake that same day, February 29, 1528. The execution was carried out in such haste that they did not have enough wood and gunpowder on hand to produce a huge blaze. As a result, Hamilton suffered a slow and horrible death. He was the first Protestant martyr in Scotland.
Hamilton's influence grew as word of his martyrdom spread, making him more popular in death than in life. Soon all of Scotland was discussing Reformed theology. One of his accusers, Alexander Alexius, was converted as a result of Hamilton's testimony and became a leader of the Reformation.
A witness of his burning later remarked, "The reek (stench of the smoke) of Patrick Hamilton has infected as many as it did blow upon."
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1530 THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION IS READ PUBLICLY
Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) hoped that some conciliation between Catholics and Protestants would be possible during his reign, so he called the Diet of Augsburg. At this meeting on April 25, 1530, the Augsburg Confession was read aloud publicly in German, taking two hours. The Confession had been commissioned by John (1468-1532), elector of Saxony, and written by Martin Luther (1483-1546), Justus Jonas (1493-1555), Johann Bugenhagen (1485-1558), and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). The Confession was a summary of the evangelical faith from the perspective of these Reformers. The Catholic reply, called the Papalist Confutation, accepted parts of it but condemned others. Although the emperor demanded that the Reformers comply with the Confutation, Melanchthon wrote a reply that was added as an addendum to the Augsburg Confession. This document was the earliest formal creedal statement of Lutheranism and became the authoritative Confession of the Lutheran church.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1531 MEXICAN INDIAN REPORTS A VISION AT GUADALUPE
As the Spanish conquistadors moved through the Americas, Catholic missionaries usually followed close behind. This was the case as Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico City in 1524. The next year, an Indian convert named Quauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) was baptized by a Franciscan priest, and his name was changed to Juan Diego. In 1531, Juan Diego reported having a vision of the Virgin Mary in Tepeyac, northwest of Mexico City. He claimed that she had appeared to him and charged him to tell the bishop to build a temple on that site. She then is said to have left an imprint of herself on Juan Diego's cactus-cloth garment. In the years since the reported vision, many miracles have been attributed to this imprinted garment, and millions have visited the shrine built on the site.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1531 THE INQUISITION BEGINS IN PORTUGAL
Thousands of Spanish Jews fled to Portugal after their expulsion from Spain in 1492, but four years later they were forced to be baptized or leave Portugal. The Spanish Inquisition, which was authorized by Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484) in 1478, did not spread to the neighboring kingdom of Portugal until 1531, when Pope Leo X (1475-1521) extended it to Portugal. An inquisition patterned after that in Spain was established with tribunals being set up in Lisbon and other major cities. The Jews who had not been baptized as Christians were the particular target. In all, approximately forty thousand Jews were brought to trial in Portugal and eighteen hundred were burned at the stake. The last burning in Portugal was on October 27, 1765.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1532 SOLOMON MOLCHO IS BURNED
In the early sixteenth century a Jew named David Reubeni (d. 1538) declared he was sent by God to free the Holy Land. Solomon Molcho (d. 1532) was among his followers. Reubeni and Molcho traveled to Rome and obtained an audience with Pope Clement VII (1479-1534). They attempted to gain the pope's approval for an army of Marranos—Jews who had undergone Christian baptism but were rumored to be secret Jews—to conquer the Holy Land. The pope, however, denied their request, threatening Molcho with execution. They next proceeded to entreat Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) to employ the Jews in the fight against the Turks. Their meeting was unfruitful again, and in 1532, Molcho was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in Mantua, Italy.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1534 HENRY VIII'S ACT OF SUPREMACY PASSES
King Henry VIII (1491-1547) of England was a devout Catholic who had received the title "Defender of the Faith" from Pope Leo X (1475-1521). However, in 1529, Henry began an assault upon papal control of England in order to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) and marry Anne Boleyn (1507-1537). In 1534, the English parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry to be "the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England," thus placing England outside the Roman Catholic Church's control. Appeals to Rome were forbidden, clergy were forced to submit to the throne, and church assets were appropriated. The Act of Supremacy laid the legal groundwork for the English Reformation. It is also the basis upon which English bishops today still are appointed by the sovereign.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE FUGITIVE TRANSLATOR
June 18, 1528
Can you imagine William Tyndale on the Ten Most Wanted list?
Tyndale was born about 1494, and was educated first at Oxford, where he was ordained into the priesthood and then at Cambridge, where he joined the Reformation. After completing his education, he felt he needed to get away from the academic atmosphere of the university to be able to think, pray, and study the Greek New Testament on his own. His solution was to take a job as tutor for a wealthy family. During that time he became convinced that England would never be evangelized using Latin Bibles. He felt that "it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were laid before their eyes in their mother tongue."
However, Tyndale's efforts to secure permission from the bishop of London to translate the Bible into English were unsuccessful, so he left England, never to return.
Tyndale settled in Antwerp, where sympathetic English merchants hid and protected him as he translated the New Testament from Greek into English and parts of the Old Testament from Hebrew. His first English New Testament was printed in Germany in 1525.
As Tyndale's English Bibles were smuggled into England, the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London began attacking him fiercely. Finally on June 18, 1528, the English cardinal Thomas Wolsey ordered the ambassador to the Low Countries to demand that the Low Countries' regent arrest Tyndale and extradite him to England. It took his pursuers seven years to find him, but Tyndale was finally arrested near Brussels in 1535. He was held in a castle dungeon near Brussels for eighteen months before his trial.
A long list of charges was drawn up against him: He had maintained that faith alone justifies and that to believe in the forgiveness of sins and to embrace the mercy offered in the gospel was enough for salvation.
In his early forties, Tyndale was found guilty at his trial and condemned to death as a heretic. Referring to the king's opposition to his English Bible, Tyndale's final words were, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes." Then William Tyndale was strangled and his body burned.
The year that Tyndale died two English Bibles containing his translation of the New Testament were circulating England, awaiting the approval of King Henry VIII. When the first was presented to him, the king, not realizing it was Tyndale who had translated the New Testament, proclaimed, "ln God's name let it go abroad among the people."
Two years later the king directed that every church in England display "one book of the whole Bible in English." Tyndale's dying prayer was answered.
Tyndale's Bible translations were his lasting legacy. They were so well done that they comprise 90 percent of the wordings of the King James Version published nearly one hundred years later and 75 percent of the wordings of the Revised Standard Version of 1952.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1535 ANABAPTISTS EVENTUALLY LOSE IN THE MÜNSTER REBELLION
As the Reformation blossomed, it spread throughout Europe and in 1532, it reached the city of Münster in Westphalia, Germany, near the Netherlands. A group of Anabaptist settlers soon arrived, seeking to establish the kingdom of God in Münster. When the local bishop assembled an army to subdue this new group, they defended themselves and gained control of the city. In the summer of 1534, Jan of Leiden (d. 1535), who claimed to be receiving messages from God, assumed sole leadership of the city. In September, he took the title "King David," and instituted the practice of polygamy. He was able to hold off the bishop's army until the following summer, but then he was defeated and executed. For many years to come, most Europeans associated all Anabaptists with the Münster Rebellion.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1536 MENNO SIMONS IS BAPTIZED AS AN ANABAPTIST
Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Roman Catholic priest in the Dutch province of Friesland, was startled to hear that a man had been executed for being an "Anabaptist" (a rebaptizer). As Menno quietly studied the Scriptures he found no mention of infant baptism and became convinced of the doctrine of believer's baptism. However, he remained in the security of his parish until members of his own congregation, including his brother, staged a militant Anabaptist occupation of a nearby cloister and were executed. This event spurred Menno to repent of his apathy toward God's Word. In 1536, Menno renounced his priesthood and was baptized as a believer. He soon became the leader of the Anabaptists. His followers, who came to be called Mennonites, were heavily persecuted as they were neither Catholic nor identifiably Protestant.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1536 CALVIN PUBLISHES INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
John Calvin (1509-1564) was a French scholar who was converted to Christ and joined the Reformation. Because of the persecution of Protestants, he was forced to be continually on the move throughout France, Switzerland, and Italy. Despite the danger, he began writing his theology. In March 1536, he published the first edition of his most influential work, Institutes of the Christian Religion. It was a small, seven-chapter volume, prefaced by a letter to King Francis I (1494-1547) of France defending the Protestants against their enemies. Calvin revised it five times, and by 1559, it had grown to seventy-nine chapters. The Institutes quickly became popular among Protestants as a cogent exposition and defense of their doctrines. It is the most influential Protestant systematic theology of all time.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1537 "MATTHEW'S BIBLE" IS PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND
Matthew's Bible, the first authorized English translation of the Bible, was published in England in 1537 by Thomas Matthew—which was actually a pen name that concealed the identity of the true editor, John Rogers (1500-1555). This version bore the words "Set forth with the king's most gracious license" on its title page. The Matthew's Bible included much of an earlier translation by William Tyndale (1494-1536). It was replaced in 1539 by the "Great Bible," which was basically a revision of the Matthew's Bible by Miles Coverdale (1488-1569) and published by royal authority.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1539 JURISDICTION OVER POLISH JEWS TRANSFERS FROM KING TO NOBILITY
Beginning with the Crusades and carrying through the fourteenth century, persecution in Western Europe drove Jews eastward. The expulsions from Spain, Portugal, and Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries greatly increased the migration. By contrast, Poland encouraged the immigration of Jews, who brought with them skills such as diplomacy, education, and business. In 1539, jurisdiction over Polish Jews was transferred from the Polish king to the land-owning nobility. This change in authority allowed Jews to rise as managers of great estates, and by 1600, Polish Jews were known for their craftsmanship and were involved in agriculture, tax collection, and trade. In Poland, Jews experienced a more normal life than they had previously in Europe.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1540 POPE PAUL III APPROVES JESUITS
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was a Spanish monk who became increasingly interested in mysticism and asceticism. After experiencing several visions, he wrote a manual called Spiritual Exercises, which dealt with personal spiritual warfare. In 1536, Loyola formed a brotherhood with six other like-minded men who were also interested in committing themselves to a life of poverty, chastity, and service to the pope. Their group, called the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, gained Pope Paul Ill's (1468-1549) formal approval in 1540. Loyola was chosen as general of the society. The Jesuits were known for their dedication and obedience to the pope, and for selfless missionary work, especially among the poor.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1542 SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT COMPLETES THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM
After Selim the Grim (1467-1520), ruler of the Ottoman Empire, defeated the Mameluke sultan of Egypt and occupied Jerusalem in 1516-1517, the Christians and Jews of the Holy Land welcomed him. His early death in 1520 brought his son, Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), to the throne of the empire in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). The Ottoman Empire reached its zenith during Suleiman's forty-six-year reign. In Jerusalem, Suleiman improved the status of Christians, and from approximately 1537 to 1542 he laid out the Temple area as it is today and rebuilt the walls and gates of Jerusalem, which had been without a wall since 1219. The Damascus Gate was the last to be finished in 1542. The walls still stand today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1542 FRANCIS XAVIER BEGINS HIS MISSIONARY EFFORTS
Francis Xavier (1506-1552), the son of a Spanish high official, became a Jesuit priest after meeting Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). After working with Ignatius in the Society of Jesus, he sailed from Lisbon on April 7, 1541, to start his missionary career, reaching Goa on the west coast of India in 1542. He remained there for three years, preaching and ministering to the sick. He next found great success evangelizing pearl divers along the coast of southwestern India, baptizing thousands of them. By 1549, he had gone on to Japan. Pope Pius X named him the "Patron of Foreign Missions," and he was canonized in 1622.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1543 COPERNICUS WRITES ON REVOLUTIONS OF THE HEAVENLY SPHERES
Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish astronomer, physician, and cleric. He was the first person to work out mathematically a heliocentric concept of the solar system, in which the earth and all planets revolve around the sun. Prior to Copernicus, the prevailing concept of the solar system was geocentric, with the planets, sun, and moon revolving around the earth. At the end of his life, in 1543, he published On Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in which he described his new theory. He dedicated the book to Pope Paul III (1468— 1549), but nonetheless both the Catholic Church and Martin Luther opposed the Copernican theory on theological grounds. On Revolutions was on the Catholic "Index of Forbidden Books" until 1758. The Copernican theory of the solar system became the foundation for modern astronomy.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1545 THE COUNCIL OF TRENT IS CALLED
To counter the success of the Protestant movement throughout Europe, Pope Paul III (1468-1549) called for a council of the church. The council's start was delayed for years due to conflict between Charles V (1500-1558), Francis I (1494-1547), and Pope Paul over its need and purpose. The council finally convened in Trent, Italy, in December 1545, with the purposes of settling the religious disputes with the Protestants, reforming ecclesiastical abuses, and beginning a crusade against Islam. The council met in three stages: 1545-47, 1551-52, and 1562-63. By the third meeting, all hope was gone for reconciliation with the Protestants. The decrees issued by the council provided the foundation for a revitalization of Catholicism and set the boundaries of the Catholic faith.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1548 FIRST JEWS SETTLE IN THE AMERICAS (BRAZIL)
Although the Inquisition began in Spain, it eventually spread to Portugal. As a result of the Portuguese Inquisition, many Jews were expelled from the country and forced to resettle in Brazil in 1548. This forced resettlement was the first permanent Jewish settlement in the New World. Although the Inquisition never was officially established in the Americas, the Jews in Brazil remained under constant threat of persecution. In 1580, when King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) seized the throne of Portugal, putting Portugal under the auspices of the Spanish Empire, the Jews in Brazil were forced to go underground. They were later involved in the unsuccessful Dutch attempt to conquer Brazil.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1549 FRANCIS XAVIER OPENS JAPAN FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS
Regarded as the greatest Roman Catholic missionary, Francis Xavier (1506-1552) set out from India for Japan, arriving on August 15, 1549, with two other Jesuits and a Japanese interpreter. He spent two years in Japan teaching the Christian faith throughout the country. After his trip, many Jesuits followed him and subsequently many Franciscans as well. By 1581, there were more than two hundred churches and 150,000 Roman Catholics in Japan.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1549 CRANMER DRAFTS THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
In 1547, Edward VI (1537-1553) inherited the throne of England. He commissioned a compellation of the existing English liturgy, with some additions, to direct the worship of the Anglican Church. Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) drafted the Book of Common Prayer, Parliament approved it, and it was first used in 1549. The Book of Common Prayer replaced three Latin manuals. In 1552, some controversial portions of the book, such as prayer for the dead and certain ceremonial articles, were removed. After its abolition by Queen Mary (1516-1558) and restoration by Elizabeth I (1533-1603), the Book of Common Prayer was revised again in 1604. It was abolished again during the Protectorate under the Puritans. In 1662, the book was reestablished as the official service book of the Church of England as it still is today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1551 ROYAL DECREE RECOGNIZES THE COUNCIL OF FOUR LANDS IN POLAND
The rallying point for the Jewish population of Poland was the Council of the Four Lands, which functioned as a parliament for the Polish Jewish community. The four lands were Great Poland with its capital Posen, Little Poland with its capital Cracow, Polish Russia (Podolia and Galicia) with its capital Lemberg-Lwow, and Volhynia with its capital Ostrag. In 1551, a royal decree officially sanctioned its functions and powers. The council regulated the Jewish community's financial affairs, represented it at the royal court, directed religious observances, and supervised a hierarchy of Jewish courts. It met twice annually, and every Jewish community sent an official as its representative. The council functioned until 1764 when it was abolished by the Polish Parliament.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1553 THE FORTY-TWO ARTICLES ACT IS FORMULATED
During the reign of King Edward VI (1547-1553) the English Reformation took significant steps forward. One of these steps was the formulation of the Forty-Two Articles Act. Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), the archbishop of Canterbury, drafted the Forty-Two Articles, which mirror the Augsburg Confession in their teaching on the Trinity and justification by faith. They followed Calvin in their outlook on predestination and the Lord's Supper. In 1553, they were adopted as the Anglican Church's first Protestant confession of faith. In 1562, the Convocation of Anglican Clergy modified and condensed the articles to thirty-nine.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1553 MARY TUDOR ASCENDS TO THE THRONE AND RESTORES CATHOLICISM
Queen Mary I (1516-1558) of England—daughter of Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the first wife of King Henry VIII (1491-1547)—was proclaimed queen of England on July 19, 1553, and quickly sought to return England to its Catholic roots. Initially she pledged to treat the Protestant minority with tolerance, but before long her patience with the Protestants grew thin. Fearing a revolt that would place her Protestant sister Elizabeth (1533-1603) on the throne, she issued an edict on March 4, 1554, outlawing Protestantism as a heresy. She earned the title "Bloody Mary" as she ruthlessly enforced the edict from 1555 until her death in 1558. In the end, her reign of terror claimed the lives of more than three hundred Protestants, including the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), and deposed Bishops Hugh Latimer (1485-1555) and Nicolas Ridley (1500-1555).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1553 COPIES OF THE TALMUD ARE BURNED IN ROME
Anti-Semitism was rampant in sixteenth-century Europe. One of the most flagrant examples took place on September 9, 1553. Cardinal Caraffa (1476-1559), who later became Pope Paul IV, organized the confiscation and public burning of copies of the Talmud in the streets of Rome. The cardinal, who organized the event with the support of Pope Julius III (1487-1555), chose September 9 because it was the Jewish holy day Rosh Hashanah, and he desired to make the event as painful as possible for the Jews. After the first burning in Rome, a wave of Talmud burning and Jewish persecution broke out through all of Italy. As a result, the Jews were forced to move their printing operations from Italy to Poland.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 HEAD OF ITALIAN INQUISITION BECOMES POPE PAUL IV Giovanni Pietro Caraffa (1476-1559) descended from Italian nobility and worked his way up in the Roman Catholic Church from chamberlain to bishop to papal envoy. He then was appointed cardinal by Pope Paul III (1468-1549). A staunch supporter of the Counter-Reformation, he reorganized the Italian Inquisition. His election as Pope Paul IV in 1555 resolved the century-long conflict between the Inquisition and previous popes. He continued his fervent support of the Roman Inquisition, as well as anti-Spanish and anti-imperial policies. His extremism and his publication of the "Index of Forbidden Books" lessened his popularity.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 HUGUENOT REFUGE IS ESTABLISHED IN BRAZIL
The French Calvinists, called Huguenots, were greatly persecuted during the Reformation. During the reign of King Henry II (1519-1559) of France, the government instituted special courts whose function was to put the Huguenots on trial—and, in many cases, to execute them. However, as persecution of the Huguenots increased, so did the number of adherents to the Reformed faith in France. In 1555, King Henry's cousin, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572), who had become a Huguenot, sponsored an attempt to establish a colony in Brazil to which Huguenots could escape for refuge. The colony was established near the present site of Rio de Janeiro. However, the Portuguese would not allow the French to gain a foothold in their New World territory and destroyed the short-lived colony in 1557.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
BLOODY MARY
March 4, 1554
Sometimes things get worse before they get better.
Born in 1516, Mary Tudor was the only surviving child of King Henry VII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was raised a Roman Catholic. When she was fifteen her parents divorced, and mother and daughter went into separate exiles, never to see each other again. When she was seventeen, her parents' marriage was declared void after the birth of her half sister, Elizabeth, and Mary was declared a bastard, losing her right of succession to the throne. Later, when Parliament revoked the annulment of her parents' marriage and restored her legitimacy, Mary returned to prominence and became vocal about her Catholicism.
In 1544, Henry VIII wrote his will, designating the order of succession to the throne to be his only son Edward, Mary, and then Elizabeth, if either of the first two died without having produced an heir.
At the death of Henry VIII, his nine-year-old son, Edward, became King Edward VI. A godly boy, Edward moved England decisively toward Protestantism. Suffering from congenital syphilis contracted from his father, he died at the age of sixteen. A few weeks before his death, without authorization from Parliament, he amended his father's will by naming his cousin Lady Jane Grey, also an evangelical, as his successor instead of his sister Mary.
Jane Grey's reign lasted just nine days before she was replaced by Mary, who became Queen Mary I in 1553.
Upon becoming queen, Mary set about returning England to its Roman Catholic roots. At first Mary dealt tolerantly with the Protestants, hoping to convert them to Catholicism. But Mary quickly realized that her lenient approach with the Protestants was not working, and she feared a Protestant revolt would place her Protestant half sister, Elizabeth, on the throne. Therefore, on March 4, 1554, Mary issued an edict that reinstated Catholic worship and outlawed Protestantism.
She earned her title "Bloody Mary" in the enforcement of this edict, following the advice of her advisors to kill anyone who was a threat to her. Lady Jane Grey, her husband, and her father were executed, as well as a hundred lesser rebels who were part of a Protestant plot to take back the throne. Mary also held her half sister, Elizabeth, in the Tower of London for months, while investigating her role in the plot. Elizabeth survived, eventually succeeding Mary as queen.
In 1555, the reign of terror began with the execution of Protestant clergymen who refused to accept the reestablished Catholic creed. Each "heretic" was given a chance to recant and then was burned at the stake if they did not. Many Protestant ministers and leaders were executed, but most of the martyrs were laypeople who had converted to Christ as the Reformation spread through England.
In all, Bloody Mary's reign of terror claimed the lives of more than three hundred Protestants. It ended with her death in 1558.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 PEACE OF AUGSBURG IS REACHED
After the Catholic emperor Charles V (1500-1558) was defeated by Protestant princes of Germany, he commissioned his brother Ferdinand to settle affairs with Germany at the Diet of Augsburg. The Peace of Augsburg was reached in 1555. The terms of the Peace of Augsburg gave each prince, whether Protestant or Catholic, absolute control over the religion in his domain, forcing all subjects to conform or emigrate. It gave Protestant rulers and cities protection equal to Catholic ones, but Calvinists and Anabaptists were excluded from this protection. By giving secular rulers control over religion in their domain, the agreement weakened true Christianity. It also signified the end of German political and religious unity. This agreement held until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 LATIMER AND RIDLEY ARE BURNED AT THE STAKE
Hugh Latimer (1485-1555) and then Nicolas Ridley (1500-1555) served as the English royal chaplain under King Henry VIII (1491-1547). However, when Henry's daughter Mary Tudor (1516-1558) ascended to the throne as Queen Mary I in 1553, Latimer and Ridley were removed from their leadership positions, tried as heretics, and condemned to death for their Protestant faith. On October 16, 1555, Latimer and Ridley were led out to be burned at the stake. As the fire was lit, Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out." The candle lit by the faith of these men still blazes today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1556 THOMAS CRANMER IS BURNED AT THE STAKE
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) rose to prominence as the archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of King Henry VIII (1491-1547). However in 1553, Queen Mary I (1516-1558) ascended to the throne, and her horrific treatment of Protestants earned her the nickname "Bloody Mary" and soon engulfed Cranmer. He was sentenced to death as a heretic, but Mary and the Catholic bishops coaxed Cranmer into signing a recantation, secretly plotting to kill him anyway after his public confession of Catholicism. At the public ceremony, Cranmer instead denounced Catholicism and boldly affirmed his faith in God and the Bible. Then he broke away and ran straight to the stake and stood resolutely to be burned. The flames quickly consumed him, but Roman Catholicism in England never recovered from his denunciation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE SURPRISE ENDING
October 16, 1555
Be thou faithful unto death.
In 1534, King Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. This action did not indicate a change in doctrine but merely meant that Henry VIII now controlled the English Church. However, Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, was a committed Protestant believer. Cranmer appointed Hugh Latimer as royal chaplain. Latimer had experienced a dramatic conversion when another minister shared the gospel with him. Cranmer appointed Nicholas Ridley, who still espoused the Roman Catholic faith, as his own personal chaplain.
In 1547, Henry VIII died and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son, a sincere Christian, who became King Edward VI. During Edward's reign, Archbishop Cranmer had great influence, and the liturgy of English churches was changed from Latin to English. Ridley, now a convinced evangelical, became a bishop, and Latimer, no longer a bishop, was preaching every Sunday. Unfortunately, Edward died in 1553 and was succeeded by his half sister Mary Tudor, a Roman Catholic. She was crowned Queen Mary I and soon earned her nickname of "Bloody Mary." She replaced all bishops with Roman Catholics, and Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley were imprisoned and condemned to death.
On October 16, 1555, Latimer and Ridley were led out of prison to be burned at the stake. As the fire was lit, Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out."
Cranmer was then "degraded," a ceremony in which all symbols of his office of archbishop were removed from him. After much pressure Cranmer finally signed a recantation denouncing Luther and affirming the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
But Queen Mary and the Catholic bishops had no intention of sparing Cranmer. They planned to have him make a public statement of his conversion and then execute him.
On the appointed day, Cranmer was brought to the platform to speak to the assembled crowd. He confirmed his faith in God and in the Bible. Then to the horror of the church dignitaries, he said, "As for the Pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine." Amidst an uproar Cranmer was pulled off the platform, but he broke away and ran straight to the stake and stood resolutely to be burned.
The flames soon consumed him, but his brave denunciation destroyed forever the power of Roman Catholicism in England, making it a Protestant nation. The deaths of Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer indeed lit a candle that never has been put out.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1558 ELIZABETH I BECOMES QUEEN
When Henry VIII (1491-1547) died, his will stated that his son, Edward (1537-1553), was to succeed him, followed by his first daughter, Mary (1516-1558), and then his second daughter, Elizabeth (1533-1603). After Edward died, the country was torn apart by Mary's reign of terror, and Elizabeth inherited England's throne in 1558. By the time Elizabeth died forty-five years later, England had defeated the Spanish Armada, the country was thoroughly Protestant, the Union Jack flew over every ocean, and English culture was at its zenith. Elizabeth's keen intellect and ingenuity shaped her domestic and foreign policies. She sensed that the country was primarily Protestant and consequently reinstated Protestant policies and largely abolished religious persecution in England. Elizabeth died in 1603 and was succeeded by James I (1566-1625), the son of Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1559 "INDEX OF FORBIDDEN BOOKS" IS PUBLISHED
When Pope Paul IV (1476-1559) commissioned the Congregation of the Inquisition, one of their assignments was to produce a list of books that church members were not allowed to read. In 1559, this list was published under the title "Index of Forbidden Books." After the Council of Trent revised the list, Pope Pius IV (1499-1565) introduced a new index in 1564. This edition included ten principles for determining which books were to be included in future editions of the index. In the subsequent four centuries, several popes produced various editions. Vatican Council II (1962-1965) announced that no future revisions were to be produced. However, Catholics still are under obligation to avoid books that the church declares to be spiritually hazardous.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1559 JOHN KNOX RETURNS TO SCOTLAND
John Knox (1514-1572) was educated at St. Andrews University and ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. However, by 1542, he had been converted and had joined the Reformation. After being appointed preacher to a garrison of soldiers in 1547, Knox was captured and made a galley slave. Freed after nineteen months, he returned to England. During Edward VI's reign, Knox served as a chaplain to the king, but when Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) took the throne, Knox was forced to flee to the continent. Returning to Scotland in 1559, Knox became the leader of the Scottish Reformation and, after Mary was deposed, preached at the coronation of her son James VI (1566-1625). The relentless efforts of John Knox made Scotland the most Calvinistic country in the world and the birthplace of modern Presbyterianism.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1560 FIRST BOOK OF DISCIPLINE IS PUBLISHED
In an effort to delineate the parameters of congregational worship and governance in Scotland, a six-member panel of leaders was appointed by Parliament in 1560. Led chiefly by John Knox (1514-1572), this committee drafted the First Book of Discipline. Twenty-one years later, in 1581, the Second Book of Discipline was published. The Books of Discipline explained the relationship between church and state and defined the roles of church offices. Defining a church polity very similar to the structure in Geneva, the Books of Discipline served as the charter of Presbyterian government for the Church of Scotland.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1560 THE GENEVA BIBLE IS POPULARIZED
The Geneva Bible was an English translation made in 1560 by Protestant exiles in Geneva. Its translators likely included John Knox (1514-1572) and William Whittingham (1524-1579). The Old Testament was primarily a revision of the Great Bible, and the New Testament was primarily a revision of William Tyndale's work. The Geneva Bible's Calvinistic annotations bothered King James I (1566-1625) of England, but the increasingly Puritan populace embraced it wholeheartedly. It quickly became the household Bible of English-speaking Protestants and was used widely for two generations. It gradually was replaced by the 1611 Authorized Version. The last edition of the Geneva Bible was published in 1644.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1561 THE COLLOQUY OF POISSY FAILS
In an attempt to produce a lasting peace between Roman Catholics and Protestants in France, Catherine de Medicis (1519-1589), the Queen Mother, called for a national council of the French Church. Catherine's desire was to obtain peace and harmony in France so that the nation could continue to develop and gain influence. However, since two church councils could not take place simultaneously, Pope Pius IV (1499-1565) reconvened the Council of Trent, which had adjourned in 1552, to prevent Catherine's council. However, Catherine went forward with her plan and titled the assembly a "colloquy" instead. The colloquy failed to meet any of Catherine's goals. She had underestimated the depth of theological differences between the Catholic and Protestant camps. Instead of resulting in peace, the assembly gave the appearance of royal approval of the Protestants, which increased the tension between the competing parties.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1562 WARS OF RELIGION IN FRANCE BEGIN
Following the death of King Henry II (1519-1559) of France in 1559, his successors struggled with the house of Guise. Catherine de Me'dicis (1519-1589) was the mother of Francis II (1544-1560), Charles IX (1550-1574), and Henry III (1541-1589), who all successively inherited the throne of France. When Francis II died unexpectedly a year after succeeding his father, Catherine became regent for Charles IX, her ten-year-old son. As the Guises were staunch Roman Catholics, Catherine sided with the French Protestants, called Huguenots. After the failure of the Colloquy of Poissy to settle the differences between Catholics and Protestants, in 1562, Catherine issued the Edict of St. Germain granting the Huguenots freedom of worship. In reprisal, two months later the Guises massacred Huguenots worshiping in the village of Vassy, thus beginning the Wars of Religion in France, which lasted on and off until 1570.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1562 GERMAN MINISTERS WRITE THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM In 1562, Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) and Kaspar Olevianus (1536-1587), two young German ministers, met in Heidelberg at the request of Elector Frederick III (1515-1576) to produce a catechism that could be used to teach children and provide doctrinal guidelines for pastors and teachers. With the help and advice of Heidelberg University faculty, the two men wrote the catechism that was approved by the Synod of Heidelberg. The catechism was first published in Germany on January 19, 1563, and included a preface by Prince Frederick. Three other German editions were produced in 1563, followed by a Dutch edition in 1566. The Synod of Dort slightly revised the catechism between 1618 and 1619. Since then it has been translated into multiple languages and is one of the standard Reformed catechisms.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
FROM APATHY TO COURAGE
January 31, 1561
A man of peace died in peace.
Born in 1496, Menno Simons grew up in the Dutch province of Friesland. At twenty-eight, he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood and appointed to a parish near his home.
He settled into a routine of saying Mass, baptizing newborns, playing cards, and drinking with his fellow priests. Meanwhile, Simons was also reading Luther and began entertaining doubts concerning certain tenets of the Catholic faith.
His first doubts centered on whether bread and wine became the actual body and blood of Christ. An intense study of Scripture led him to the conclusion that he had been deceived by the teachings of the church. Yet he remained a Catholic priest. It was a comfortable living. It paid the bills.
Then troubling news reached his ears. A man in a nearby town had been executed for adhering to an unusual new doctrine: rebaptism! The death of this "Anabaptist" (rebaptizer) drove Simons to a renewed search of the Scriptures. He could find no mention of infant baptism, and he became more and more convinced that "believer's baptism" was instead the true Christian model. Still he remained a Catholic. It was safe. It was secure.
But then members of his own congregation, his brother Pieter among them, staged a militant Anabaptist occupation of a local cloister and were massacred by the authorities. Menno's soul was crushed. He realized that in his role as a spiritual leader he might have been able to prevent the tragedy. "The blood of these people, although misled, fell so hot upon my heart that I could not stand it, nor find rest in my soul," he wrote.
He repented of his sins, begging God for grace and a clean heart. He prayed for the courage to "preach His exalted adorable name and holy Word in purity, and make known His truth to His glory." Menno Simons was reborn.
As he began to preach the Bible, Menno's life became increasingly at risk. In 1536, he quietly renounced his priesthood, was rebaptized, and began an itinerant career of radical Biblical reform that lasted until his death.
As Menno Simons rose to a place of revered influence within the Anabaptist movement, his spirit of moderation helped unite various Anabaptist groups into one distinctive Christian body. Neither Catholic nor identifiably Protestant, Menno Simons' followers came to be called Mennonites and maintained a view of the church as a pure bride for Christ, untainted by earthly political allegiance. Believing that Jesus called Christians to forsake the sword for the Word of God, they refused to accept secular offices or join an army. As such, authorities everywhere, both civil and religious, viewed them as traitors. Many were martyred for their understanding of the example of Jesus Christ. But Menno Simons, a man of peace in a world of war, eluded capture to the end and died in his own bed on January 31, 1561.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1563 FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS IS PUBLISHED
John Foxe (1516-1587) was a Protestant educator in England with a keen interest in history. When Mary Tudor (r. 1553-1558) took the English throne and restored Roman Catholicism, Foxe and his wife fled England, taking refuge in Germany. Despite having to flee, Foxe continued to pursue his passion of writing about English church history, supporting his family with odd jobs and tutoring while he wrote. In Frankfurt, Foxe's interest turned to the martyrs of the Protestant Reformation after meeting Edmund Grindal (1519-1583), who was recording the stories of the martyrs. Foxe continued Grindal's work, and with the help of the printer John Day (1522-1584), published Actes and Monumentes, popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, in 1563. The four editions published during Foxe's lifetime profoundly influenced Elizabethan England.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1563 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES ARE ISSUED
In response to the religious controversies of the sixteenth century, the 1563 Convocation of the Church of England revised the Forty-two Articles Act of 1553 into the Thirty-Nine Articles, which have remained nearly unchanged to this day. The intention was not to formulate a complete creedal system, but rather to define the position of the Anglican Church in relation to the issues of the day. The Thirty-Nine Articles cover the doctrines of Scripture, the Trinity, salvation, the sacraments, and the church's ministry. They still stand as the Church of England's official confession of faith.
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1564 CALVIN DIES AND IS SUCCEEDED BY BEZA
Reformed Protestantism flourished under John Calvin (1509-1564) in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1558, Calvin asked Theodore Beza (1519-1605) to come to Geneva to be a professor of Greek. Beza was a former Catholic lawyer who had been converted to Christ after a physical and spiritual crisis in 1548. Once in Geneva, Beza gained much influence in the movement, eventually becoming rector and teaching theology at the Genevan Academy. At Calvin's death in 1564, all of his responsibilities fell to Beza. This included heading the Genevan Academy, moderating the Company of Pastors of Geneva, working with the city magistrates, and being the leader and spokesperson for Reformed Protestantism.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1565 AUGUSTINIANS ARRIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES
After Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands for Spain in 1521, the first major missionary effort by the Roman Catholic Church came in 1565, with the arrival of Spaniard Miguel de Legaspi (1510-1572). The royal court of Mexico sent him to the Philippines accompanied by Augustinian priests. The Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Jesuits closely followed the Augustinians. By 1620, approximately half of the population, now under Spanish rule, was nominally Roman Catholic. It was not until the United States took control of the Philippines from Spain in 1898 that Protestant missionaries were permitted. In 2000, the Philippines were 67 percent Roman Catholic and 17 percent evangelical.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1565 TERESA OF AVILA WRITES THE WAY OF PERFECTION
Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) became a nun and entered the Spanish Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation in 1533. There in the 1550s, she began to have heavenly visions and mystical experiences. Seeking to live a life of perfection, she founded a convent in Avila, Spain, under the original Carmelite Rule, and named it after St. Joseph. While there in 1565, she wrote The Way of Perfection, an instructional book for her nuns. This and her other written works teach a life of prayer, meditation, asceticism, and mysticism. From 1567, she worked to reform the Carmelite order throughout Spain, setting up several reformed convents obedient to the original Carmelite Rule. Teresa of Avila was a voice not only for mysticism but also for reform within the Catholic Church.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1566 JOSEPH NASI IS MADE DUKE OF NAXOS
Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity but secretly maintained their Jewish practices were called Marranos. In the sixteenth century, an influential Marrano named Dona Gracia Nasi (1510-1569) fled Portugal with her nephew, Joao (later Joseph) Nasi (1524-1579). After completing his studies, he worked for Nasi family enterprises in Antwerp, Belgium. Joao later joined his aunt in Istanbul, where he embraced Judaism and took the name Joseph Nasi. He obtained the Turkish sultan's permission to rebuild the ancient city of Tiberias as a city-state for Jews. Nasi rose to such power in the government of the sultan that he became the virtual ruler of the empire. In 1566, he was made Duke of Naxos and used his power and wealth to serve his Jewish people.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1566 THE SYNOD OF ANTWERP MEETS IN SECRET
As the Lowlands—known to us today as the Netherlands and Belgium—neared rebellion against Spanish rule, the underground Reformed church met in a secret synod at Antwerp to discuss their convictions and outline their beliefs. The assembly adopted the Belgic Confession, a Calvinistic creed written five years earlier in 1561, by Guido de Bres (1522-1567), who had been a fugitive preacher in the Lowlands. Drawing heavily from the writings of John Calvin (1509-1564), this confession was eagerly received by the Reformed churches of the Lowlands. The National Synod of the Netherlands adopted it following independence from Spain in 1619. The Belgic Confession is one of three standards of the Dutch Reformed Church, along with the Heidelberg Confession and the Canons of Dort.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1568 THE BISHOP'S BIBLE IS PUBLISHED
In 1560, the Geneva Bible was produced by English Protestant exiles in Geneva, Switzerland. This English translation of the Bible quickly became the household version of English-speaking Protestants, yet it contained Reformed notes that were not acceptable to the leaders of the English church and state. In response, they produced their own version, in 1568, and called it the Bishop's Bible. The church intended that the Bishop's Bible would replace their Great Bible, which had had royal approval—and, indeed, the Bishop's Bible was an improved translation. However, it was not as good of a translation as the Geneva Bible, and as a result, the Bishop's Bible never gained popular approval, nor was it recognized formally by Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1569 PAPAL STATES EXPEL THE JEWS
Pope Pius V (1504-1572) was determined to combat heresy wherever he found it. This included not only Protestantism but Judaism as well. For commercial reasons he permitted some Jews to live in ghettos in Rome and in Ancona, Italy; but in 1569, he issued his Bull Hebraeorum Gens in which he expelled all other Jews from the Papal States, some of whose families had lived there from antiquity.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1569-1572 ISAAC LURIA IS MAJOR INFLUENCE IN SAFED
A small town in the hills of Upper Galilee became a center for pious and mystical Jews. The town, Safed, hosted Jewish academies in the sixteenth century. Rabbi Isaac Luria (d. 1572), who lived in Safed and was known as the Ari, was a prophet of a new Jewish mysticism and became a major influence from 1569 to 1572. An immigrant from Cairo, Egypt, Luria explained Jewish sufferings as cosmic events related to the very nature of God. To Luria, Jewish rituals were a means for redeeming God himself and bringing in the messianic age. From Safed, his teaching spread throughout the Middle East, into Italy, and from there to the heart of Europe. Rituals and prayers devised by Luria are still found in Jewish prayer books today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1572 QUEEN MOTHER ORDERS ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE
While preparing for her daughter to marry the Protestant king of Navarre, Spain, Queen Mother Catherine de Medicis (1519-1589) of France also was plotting the assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572), a French war hero and Huguenot leader. The wedding brought thousands of Protestants to Paris on August 18, 1572. On August 22, the assassination attempt failed. With the failed attempt threatening to embarrass the royal family, twenty-two-year-old King Charles IX (1550-1574) angrily shouted to his mother that she should just kill all the Huguenots in France. Catherine responded to this spontaneous demand with an order for all the Huguenot leaders in the city to be executed. The gates of the city were closed so that no one could escape, and on August 24, 1572—St. Bartholomew's Day—thousands of Huguenot men, women, and children were viciously executed, beginning with Admiral Coligny.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY
August 24, 1572
In Paris on August 18, 1572, hopes for peace existed between the warring Catholics and Protestants. On this day, a royal wedding between the Protestant King Henry of Navarre and the Catholic Margaret of Valois brought together the two hostile factions. Protestant and Catholic nobles who had fought each other for ten years turned out for the celebration. Thousands of Protestants came to Paris for the wedding, and the festivities lasted for days.
Calvinism had come to France in 1555. Soon there were two thousand French Reformed churches, and nearly half of the population had been won over to the Reformed faith. French Protestants became known as Huguenots.
While Catherine de Medicis, the Queen Mother, had been planning her daughter's wedding, she had also been plotting the assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, who was a leader of the Huguenots.
On August 22, the assassination attempt failed. This ignominious plot so soon after the royal wedding threatened to embarrass the royal family. Near midnight the following night, the twenty-two-year-old French king, brother of the bride, in a fit of rage shouted to his mother, "If you are going to kill Coligny, why don't you kill all the Huguenots in France, so that there will be no one left to hate me."
Following this impetuous directive, Catherine ordered the murder of all the Huguenot leaders currently in Paris, including those who had attended the wedding. The massacre began on August 24, 1572, St. Bartholomew's Day. Admiral Coligny was murdered first as he knelt in prayer.
Many of the Huguenot nobles who were guests at the royal wedding were lodged at the Louvre. They were called into the courtyard and shot one by one as they appeared.
During the night, the homes of Paris Huguenots each had been marked with white crosses. Before daybreak, messengers were sent throughout the city screaming, "Kill! Kill! The King commands it." A murdering frenzy fell on the whole city. Entire Huguenot families were taken into the streets and murdered. The dawn of St. Bartholomew's Day revealed thousands of martyred Huguenots.
The craze spread to the provinces in the following days and weeks, and the death toll was probably in the range of thirty to forty thousand. Admiral Coligny's head was embalmed and sent to Rome as a gift to Pope Gregory XIII. When news of the massacre reached Rome (along with Coligny's head), the pope and his cardinals attended a mass of thanksgiving.
But the savagery was not without cost to the king. Charles IX soon began having nightmares about the massacre. In less than two years, he was dying at the age of only twenty-four. His last days were plagued with visions of his victims. "What bloodshed, what murders!" he cried to his nurse. "What evil counsel have I followed? O my God, forgive me!... I am lost!"
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1572-1573 PURITANS WRITE ADMONITIONS TO PARLIAMENT During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) in England, many Puritans found themselves becoming more and more estranged by the queen's religious policies. Unsatisfied with the episcopal government of the church and with various policies that appeared to be politically dictated, an anonymous tract titled "Admonition to Parliament" was printed in 1572. It was followed the next year by a second admonition. These complaints against church abuses and polity were written in hopes that Parliament would counter Elizabethan compromises by setting up a Presbyterian government in the church to be a better reflection of the continental Reformation. Controversy ensued, and Elizabeth effectively drove the movement underground. The admonitions, however, signaled a growing dissatisfaction in the rising Puritan movement, which would spread to the New World sixty years later.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1576 THE TORGAU ARTICLES ATTEMPT TO SETTLE THEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
After the Augsburg Confession was written, there were still a number of theological disagreements among Lutherans. In an attempt to settle these differences in a Christian manner, German Lutheran theologians adopted the Torgau Articles, which were accepted by most Lutheran theologians.
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1577 FORMULA OF CONCORD ENDS LUTHERAN DOCTRINAL CONTROVERSIES
When the Torgau Articles were criticized as being too lengthy, six German Lutheran theologians led by Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) and James Andreae (1528-1590) met in 1577 to revise them. The resulting Formula of Concord ended the doctrinal controversies of German Lutheranism that had arisen after the death of Martin Luther (1483-1546). It had two parts: the Epitome and Declaration. The Epitome described each doctrinal controversy and the arguments on each side. The Declaration was entitled "Thorough, Pure, Correct, and Final (Solid, Plain, and Clear) Repetition and Declaration of Some Articles of the Augsburg Confession."
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1578 REFORMED AND ANABAPTIST LEADERS DEBATE PEACEABLY
Since the beginning of the Reformation, the debates between Anabaptists and their Reformed counterparts had been anything but peaceful. The Anabaptists renounced the close union between church and state that had been central to European governmental structures for more than a thousand years. They also rejected the practice of infant baptism. As a result, most Anabaptist leaders lived under threat of imprisonment or death from both Protestants and Catholics. However, in 1578, Anabaptist and Reformed leaders held a series of surprisingly peaceful debates. From February 27 until May 17, delegates from each side met in Emden, the Netherlands. The representatives debated topics such as the nature of the Trinity, the sin of mankind, sacramental theology, the resurrection, and the Christian's role in government and military service, thereby coming to a greater understanding of each other's positions.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1582 RICCI BEGINS MISSIONS IN CHINA
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was the founder of modern-times Roman Catholic missions to China. The Italian Jesuit arrived at the Portuguese trading settlement of Macao on the coast of China in 1582, and began avidly studying Chinese language and culture. He gained admittance to China the following year, but encountered significant popular resistance. He gained acceptance by embracing Chinese dress, culture, and language—and because his maps, books, and mechanical instruments were of interest to the educated Chinese. Ricci eventually settled in Peking among the Chinese literati and never left, dying there in 1610. In Peking he made several influential converts, including some among high court officials, and the Catholic Church began to grow. He opposed Buddhism and Taoism, but embraced classical Confucianism, making him a controversial missionary figure.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1587 MISSIONARIES ARE BANNED IN JAPAN
In 1549, the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier (1506-1552) arrived in Japan. During his first years in Japan, many people simply thought that he was establishing a new Buddhist sect. However, it soon became apparent that he was teaching something different. Thirty years after Xavier's arrival, Jesuit missionaries could claim 130,000 converts. In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), the Japanese Napoleon, issued a decree that banned missionaries from Japan. His decree, however, was neither obeyed nor enforced. In 1596, Hideyoshi began a more proactive persecution of the missionaries, and the next year twenty-six Christians were crucified in Nagasaki. In 1614, Christianity was officially outlawed in Japan, and the seventeenth century was marked by extreme persecution of Japanese Catholics.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
A POWER STRUGGLE OR A HOLY WAR?
July 29, 1588
Why is England largely Protestant and not Catholic?
In 1558, Elizabeth I, a Protestant, succeeded her Roman Catholic half sister, Mary Tudor, as Queen of England. Mary had done everything she could to make England Catholic. On the other hand, the pragmatic Elizabeth adamantly opposed allowing the pope to rule her country.
England's archrival at the time was Spain, which was Catholic. The Spanish king Philip II was Europe's most powerful monarch. The pope, Emperor Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots all encouraged Philip to invade England to restore Catholicism.
Queen Elizabeth cleverly toyed with King Philip, letting him think she might marry him or his son. Meanwhile, English pirates under the direction of Frances Drake plundered Spanish merchant ships with Elizabeth's tacit approval.
At this time the Netherlands were in revolt against Spain. Queen Elizabeth knew that as long as Philip was fighting in the Netherlands, he was less likely to invade England. Therefore Elizabeth secretly helped the Dutch rebels.
Then Queen Elizabeth received a financial windfall. Spanish ships carrying the payroll for their troops in the Netherlands were driven into England's ports by English pirates. Philip kept his temper, and Elizabeth kept the money.
But when Queen Elizabeth imprisoned the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, Philip's patience ran out and he plotted to assassinate Elizabeth. When Elizabeth found out, she expelled the Spanish ambassador and began openly aiding the Netherlands. The lines were drawn. Both Elizabeth and Philip put all their resources into preparing for the war that would determine the mastery of the seas and the religion of England.
Queen Elizabeth assembled her fleet of thirty-four royal warships. In addition, she induced the owners of 170 merchant ships to equip their vessels with armaments to be available when needed. Meanwhile, Philip's Spanish Armada consisted of 130 ships, the most powerful navy the world had ever seen. On the morning the Armada sailed, every sailor took the Eucharist and all Spain prayed.
The battle's main action occurred off the coast of France. Shortly after midnight on July 28, Francis Drake set fire to several small boats and placed them in the wind to sail into the Spanish fleet. Panic seized the Spaniards as two ships caught fire and several of the largest became entangled with one another as they sought to escape the burning boats.
The coup de grace for the Spanish came on the following day, July 29, 1588. The wind carried the broken Armada off into the North Sea, where heavy winds wrecked many of the remaining ships off the coast of Ireland.
Of the 130 ships that left Spain, just fifty-three returned, and they were so badly damaged that they were worthless. Of the twenty-seven thousand men who left, ten thousand returned, most of them wounded or sick.
England lost just sixty men and not one ship and would remain Protestant.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1588 THE SPANISH ARMADA IS DEFEATED
In 1588, King Philip II (1527-1598) of Spain sent the 130-ship Spanish Armada to invade England and overthrow Elizabeth I (1533-1603), the Protestant queen of England. Possessing the most powerful navy in the world, Philip felt sure of victory. Hundreds of monks accompanied the Armada to reestablish Catholicism in England. To defend Protestant England, Elizabeth conscripted 170 merchant ships to accompany her thirty-four Royal Navy ships. Terrible storms forced the Armada into harbors in France. Early on the morning of July 28, 1588, English Admiral Francis Drake (1540-1596) lit a few small boats on fire and used the wind to carry them to the Spanish fleet. At noon that day, as the fire spread to the Spanish ships, the English defeated the Armada.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1589 MOSCOW BECOMES AN INDEPENDENT PATRIARCHATE During feudal times, the Russian Orthodox Church had been a stabilizing force in the life of the Russian people. In the fourteenth century, as the divided feudal kingdoms began to unite around Moscow, Orthodox bishops acted as counselors to the princes of Moscow. In the fifteenth century, as the Byzantine Empire collapsed, the Russian Orthodox Church became autonomous from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1589, Metropolitan Job (r. 1589-1605) was recognized as the first Russian patriarch, and the Moscow Patriarchate was established. The Eastern Orthodox bishops considered the Moscow Patriarchate to be the fifth-most-honored office in the Orthodox Church.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1590 JEWS BEGIN TO IMMIGRATE TO THE LOW COUNTRIES
In 1579, the Low Countries freed themselves from Spanish rule and instituted freedom of religion. The following year Spain annexed Portugal, and the Portuguese Inquisition that had been lax became much more aggressive in searching out crypto-Jews, those who had accepted Christian baptism but secretly still were practicing Judaism. As a result, by 1590, a steady stream of Jews immigrated to Amsterdam. Throughout the seventeenth century Amsterdam prospered, largely as a result of the skills the Jews brought with them. Trained in medicine, law, politics, business, and religion, the Jewish population made Amsterdam known as "The Dutch Jerusalem."
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1598 EDICT OF NANTES SEEKS TO ENLARGE FRENCH PROTESTANT RIGHTS
Throughout sixteenth-century Europe, rulers proclaimed one religion for their region, and all subjects were expected to conform. The Edict of Nantes changed this practice in France. The edict was an agreement signed in 1598 between King Henry IV (1553-1610) of France and the French Protestant Huguenots after the formerly Protestant Henry converted to Catholicism in an effort to end the Wars of Religion. The Edict of Nantes enlarged the rights given to French Protestants to include civil equality, free exercise of religion, and fair administration of justice. This edict introduced the new concept of two religions tolerantly coexisting. King Louis XIV (1638-1715) revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
Soon after the invention of the printing press in 1453, simple musical compositions began to be printed. Ottaviano dei Petrucci of Venice was the first to publish more complex compositions with movable metal type. Petrucci (1466-1539) used a three-step process to print music. First the words were printed, then the staves, and finally the notes. Petrucci's work made musical compositions more accessible, enabling church music to progress from simple tunes and Gregorian chants to the more complex works of Haydn and Bach.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1506 WORK BEGINS ON ST. PETER'S BASILICA
In 1506, Pope Julius II (1443-1513) began construction on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The basilica was located on the traditional site of Peter's crucifixion, and his tomb is said to be under the central altar. Michelangelo (1475-1564), who was one of a number of artists to contribute to the basilica's construction, designed its dome. The church, which was completed in 1615 under Pope Paul V (1552-1621), is one of the largest in the world. Early in the project the pope commissioned Johann Tetzel (1465-1519) to raise money for construction by selling indulgences. The church claimed that the purchase of an indulgence allowed the merit of Christ and the saints to be transferred to a soul in purgatory, thus shortening its time there. Martin Luther (1483-1546) wrote his Ninety-Five Theses against this practice of selling indulgences.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1512 FIFTH LATERAN COUNCIL CONVENES
The Lateran Councils were ecumenical church councils that convened in the Church of St. John Lateran in Rome. In 1512, Pope Julius II (c.1443-1513) called for the Fifth Lateran Council. The pope summoned the church together as a response to the Council of Pisa (1511-1512), which had convened without papal authority and commissioning. Though needing to address clerical abuses, corruption, usury, and overall church reform, the council focused primarily on issues of protocol, authority, and the governing structure surrounding the gathering of councils. The failure of the pope and council to address the church's need for reform prepared the way for Martin Luther (1483-1546) to launch the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1512 MICHELANGELO COMPLETES THE SISTINE CHAPEL According to his own account, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) initially was hesitant to undertake painting the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. However, at the papal court's urging, Michelangelo began work on the ceiling in 1508. He planned and worked on the project for more than four years. Covering more than ten thousand square feet of surface, the work includes hundreds of characters, some as large as twelve feet high, and depicts a timeline of the biblical account from creation to the second coming of Christ. The finished product has come to be known as one of the single greatest artistic achievements of all time.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1513 LEO X BECOMES POPE
In a span of three days, Giovanni de' Medici (1475-1521) received holy orders, was consecrated as a bishop, and was crowned Pope Leo X of the Catholic Church on March 17, 1513. Chosen as a relief to the harsh policies and attitude of the previous pope, Julius II (c.1443-1513), Leo strove for peace within the church and the empire. A classic embodiment of the Renaissance, Leo delighted in the arts and humanist learning. His penchant for spending, however, led the church into more and more debt. As a result, Leo supported the sale of indulgences as a way to raise funds for the church. Martin Luther (1483-1546) would open the doors of reformation when he nailed his famous Ninety-Five Theses to the Cathedral door in Wittenberg, Germany, to attack the church's practice of indulgences.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1513 RAPHAEL PAINTS SISTINE MADONNA
Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520), one of the greatest pupils of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Michelangelo (1475-1564), is best known for his vivid and powerful paintings of the Madonna and the life of Christ. Commissioned by Pope Julius II (1443-1513) in about 1513, Raphael began working on an altar-piece that would be titled the Sistine Madonna. This work—first presented in Piacenza, a newly established city in the Papal States—depicts the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus seemingly floating through the very frame of the picture, suggesting an infinite lightness and absence of mortality in these two holy figures. Raphael's artistic style and talent has become the benchmark for biblical art.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1514 BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS CONVERTS
Bartolome de las Casas (1474-1566) was born in 1474 in Seville, Spain. In 1502, he went to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, and he was ordained there as a priest in 1507. Several years after his profound conversion to Jesus Christ in 1514, he became a champion of the American Indians, seeking to end their slavery, to encourage their conversion, and to further their humane treatment. Even after returning to Spain in 1547, he worked tirelessly to improve the Indians' quality of life. He was a pioneer in the cause of human rights.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1516 THE FIRST ITALIAN GHETTO IS ESTABLISHED IN VENICE
In 1516, the city of Venice portioned off a neighborhood specifically for Jews. The Venetian ghetto, the first to be established in Italy, not only confined the Jewish population but became the model for such ghettos throughout Italy. In 1555, Pope Paul IV (1476-1559) commanded the separation of Jews from the rest of the Italian population, making ghettos a standard feature in Rome and papal territories. The typical Italian ghetto was surrounded by a gated wall, and the Jews were required to remain inside it at night. Starting with the first ghetto in Venice, Italy continued to require ghettos in major cities and small towns until 1732.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1516 OTTOMAN TURKS CONQUER PALESTINE
The Ottomans, a Turkish dynasty dating back to about 1300, conquered Constantinople in 1453. In 1516, the Turks defeated the Egyptian armies, giving them control not only of Syria but of Palestine as well. The presence of the Ottoman Empire, an enemy of Europe, brought unity to the Middle East, and their influence often benefited the Jews in the area. The Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566), used his power in the region to build the walls that still surround Jerusalem. The flag of the Ottoman Empire flew over Palestine for four centuries, until World War II.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1516 ERASMUS PUBLISHES THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT
The Renaissance spurred a resurgence of interest in the classics. This interest extended to the study of original languages. Francisco Jime'nez de Cisneros (1437-1517) began work in Spain to publish the first polyglot, or multi-translation, Bible including the Greek. By 1514, the New Testament was completed, but publishing delays prevented it from being released immediately. During this time, Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, entered the race to publish the first Greek New Testament. Working with insufficient and incomplete manuscripts, Erasmus completed his Greek Testament in ten months, making it available for publication by 1516, beating the release of Jimenez's text. Though containing many errors, Erasmus' work challenged the Vulgate's supremacy and was the Greek text used by Martin Luther (1483-1546) and William Tyndale (1494-1536) to translate the New Testament into German and English.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE REFORMATION ERA
1517—1648
Reform came with a fury. Martin Luther sounded the trumpet, and hosts of others rallied to the cause. The period we call the Reformation marks the mobilization of Protestantism: Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Anabaptist. By the mid-sixteenth century the Reformation had shattered the traditional unity of Western Europe and had bequeathed to modern times religious pluralism. The Church of Rome resisted this attack on tradition and mustered new troops, especially the Society of Jesus. The church sent out fresh waves of missionaries to Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and waged war in France, the Netherlands, and Germany. But in the end, Christendom slipped into yesteryear. In its place arose the denominational concept of the church, which allowed modern nations to treat the churches as voluntary societies separated from the state.
BRUCE L. SHELLEY
1519-21—Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigates the earth
1521—Hernando Cortes conquers Mexico's Aztec Empire
1531—First stock exchange established in Antwerp
1562—English enter slave trade
1590—Telescope invented
1607—English colony established
1631—Mount Vesuvius erupts, at Jamestown destroying towns in Bayonne, France
1647—Bayonet invented
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1517 LUTHER'S NINETY-FIVE THESES LAUNCH THE REFORMATION
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. He had become convinced of justification by faith alone and therefore felt compelled to protest against the indulgence system of the church. In the Roman Catholic Church it was claimed that indulgences remitted the debt of temporal punishment owed to God after the guilt of the sin was forgiven. Indulgences were being sold in Germany by a Dominican friar named Johann Tetzel (1465-1519). Luther's theses were ninety-five arguments against the indulgences. His theses created an explosion of antichurch sentiment among the people and triggered many attempts by the church to silence him. However, Luther would not be silenced, claiming the supremacy of Scripture's authority over any ecclesiastical authority. Luther's Ninety-Five Theses marked the beginning of the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1521 LUTHER DEFENDS HIMSELF AT THE DIET OF WORMS
After Martin Luther (1483-1546), a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in 1517, the church excommunicated him in January 1521, but agreed to hear his arguments that spring. On April 17, 1521, Luther came to the Diet of Worms to state his case; however, the assembly refused to hear him and demanded that he recant his writings. After a night of prayer, the next day Luther boldly refused to recant, stating, "I am bound by the Scriptures I have cited, for my conscience is captive to the Word of God.... I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me. Amen." The fire of Reformation would continue to blaze.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1521 PHILIP MELANCHTHON'S LOCI COMMUNES IS PUBLISHED Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was a professor of Greek at the University of Wittenberg when he embraced the cause of Martin Luther (1483-1546). Melanchthon was the son of George Scharzerd, but when he was young his great uncle gave him the Greek name Melanchthon, meaning "black earth." Melanchthon became the temporary leader of the Reformation when Luther was forced into hiding at Wartburg Castle after the Diet of Worms in 1521. That same year, Melanchthon released his first edition of Loci Communes, which was the first systematic exposition of Lutheran theology. It dealt primarily with justification by faith, the bondage of the will, and the relationship between the law and the gospel.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
FROM HEAD TO HEART
December 27, 1518
Theological ideas alone cannot save, but they can be the seeds of spiritual transformation.
Ulrich Zwingli was not born an idealistic revolutionary. Although he was intelligent and well educated, it was his training not his spiritual passion that led him into the ministry. In short, the ideas of the Early Church Fathers made sense to Zwingli, but he lacked true spiritual devotion.
This rift between head and heart manifested itself when, amid his persuasive sermons and popular ministry in the Swiss town of Glarus, someone exposed Zwingli's wanton relationship with a mistress. His conscience was pricked but not yet transformed. At this time, Zwingli reluctantly accepted a post at Einsiedeln, a monastery and place of pilgrimage.
As he preached about God's grace, Zwingli began to find the rituals and trappings of the Roman Catholic Church lacking, and he publicly denounced the local seller of papal indulgences. Surmising that grace could not be bought and sold, Zwingli sought the Scriptures for an understanding of free grace.
Only God knows when Zwingli discovered this saving grace for himself, but at Einsiedeln, Zwingli publicly confessed his own sins and declared Christ's saving grace to be sufficient. Soon, officials from Zurich noticed his powerful oratory. They had reservations about his past reputation, but he appeared changed. They soon invited him to become priest at the Zurich Great Church. He arrived in Zurich on December 27, 1518.
Zwingli entered a city primed for the Reformation. His employers had little idea they were hiring a Reformer, and Zwingli himself might not have known how much he would change. Zurich's citizens, known for their fine army and penchant for political independence, were drawn to their new preacher.
Zwingli found himself preaching in the marketplace on Fridays so the crowds from surrounding villages might hear him. He proclaimed the sufficiency of faith in Christ, the deficiency of superstition and indulgences, the necessity of true repentance and godly living, and the importance of caring for the poor and needy, the widow and orphan.
And widows and orphans there would be. In the summer of 1519, the plague arrived in Zurich. Three out of ten people died. Zwingli diligently ministered throughout the ravaged city. While attending to the sick and dying, he also became ill and nearly died.
Zwingli eventually recovered and went on to become the leading figure in the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. But it was just a matter of time before war broke out between Protestants and the armies of the pope. A lifelong military chaplain, Zwingli died on the Kappel battlefield in 1531, defending a threatened freedom: the preaching of the gospel he had come to know and love.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1522 LUTHER TRANSLATES THE NEW TESTAMENT INTO GERMAN After posting his Ninety-Five Theses, Martin Luther (1483-1546) experienced great opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1521, following the Diet of Worms, Luther went into hiding in Wartburg Castle, protected by the elector, Frederick the Wise (1463-1525). While in hiding, Luther took the opportunity to translate the New Testament from Greek into German. He completed the New Testament in the fall of 1522, and then translated the Old Testament from Hebrew, eventually finishing it in 1534. Luther's German Bible was as much a force in the German-speaking world as the King James Version later became in the English-speaking world.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1523 DAVID REUBENI APPEARS IN ITALY
In 1523, a young Jew from Ethiopia came to Venice proclaiming that he was a descendant of King David and a prince of the lost tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, which he said were living in Ethiopia. As a result he became known as David Reubeni (d. 1538). He claimed he was sent by God to deliver the Holy Land from the Ottoman Empire. Next he traveled to Portugal where he attracted many followers among the Marranos, the Jews who had accepted Christian baptism. One of his followers, Solomon Molcho (d. 1532), was inspired to proclaim himself as the Messiah in Rome in 1530, and was burned alive two years later by the Inquisition. Reubeni was burned in Spain as a heretic in 1538.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1523 ZWINGLI LEADS THE SWISS REFORMATION
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) was a scholar and priest who had served in the papal armies. In 1518, he became priest at the Great Church in Zurich. In this position Zwingli began a vast reform movement in 1523. The Zurich city council eventually broke with the diocese of Constance and adopted Zwingli's Sixty-Seven Articles, which radically changed church practices in terms of authority, worship, and sacraments. Zwingli's Swiss Reformation was more radical than the Lutheran reform movement, especially on the issues of public worship and the sacraments. Zwingli was the founder of the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. He died in the battle of Kappel in 1531.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE DIET OF WORMS
April 17, 1521
It wasn't some kind of crazy fad diet.
Europe was in a state of flux during the early 1500s. The Renaissance celebrated humanism and undermined contemporary Christian culture. A threat to the church came from Martin Luther.
Luther, a professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, was forthright about his convictions regarding justification by faith, papal authority, and the sacraments. The Reformation had begun when Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517. The Theses consisted of ninety-five distinct propositions arguing against the supreme power of the pope, the greed within the church, and the abuse of indulgences. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Luther in January 1521. This move served to fuel rather than diminish public support for Luther.
Because of Luther's popularity, Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, agreed to hear his arguments at a diet, a meeting of the empire's parliament, which was scheduled for the spring of 1521 in Worms, Germany. Representatives from the church wanted Luther arrested and condemned to death as a heretic without a trial. However, Luther was promised that he would be protected and given a fair trial at the diet.
At four o'clock in the afternoon on April 17, 1521, Luther arrived triumphantly in Worms. It was a dramatic contrast: Luther, a simple monk, standing before the powerful sovereign of the Holy Roman Empire. He was confronted immediately with a pile of his books and asked whether he acknowledged authorship of the writings. He quietly responded, "The books are all mine." They pressed him further, asking whether he would stand by them or recant anything in them. Luther was shocked, because he had been promised a hearing of his beliefs, not a demand for recantation. He replied, "This touches God and his Word. This affects the salvation of souls. Of this Christ said, 'He who denies me before men, him will I deny before my Father.' To say too little or too much would be dangerous. I beg you, give me time to think it over." After some deliberation and even though they felt he didn't deserve it, Luther was granted a one-day delay.
Luther spent the evening in prayer, carefully preparing his response. At six o'clock the following evening, he gave his famous answer: "Unless I am convinced by the testi-mony of Scripture or by clear reason (for I trust neither pope nor council alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have cited, for my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything since to act against one's conscience is neither safe nor right. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand, may God help me. Amen."
These famous words reverberated throughout the Reformation, inspiring many others to take their stand as well.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1524 THE PEASANTS' REVOLT ERUPTS
A revolutionary mass movement among German peasants began when the rulers laid taxes on them. Martin Luther's condemnation of the greedy clergy and princes helped ignite the uprising. The revolt lasted from June 1524 until May 1525. As many as three hundred thousand peasants participated in the uprising. Their agenda was to eliminate feudal dues and serfdom, reform the courts, modify tithes, and institute congregational election of pastors. Luther (1483-1546) strongly opposed the revolt, and this, combined with its poor direction and organization, led to the peasants' defeat. The Peasants' Revolt was detrimental to the Reformation. The Catholic Church portrayed the peasants' defeat as a divine judgment against Protestantism, turning the disillusioned peasants against Luther. As a result, the Reformation lost its appeal among the lower classes.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1525 THE ANABAPTIST MOVEMENT BEGINS
Often called the Swiss radicals or the left wing of the Reformation, the Anabaptists separated from Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) over the issue of infant baptism. They believed that only those who could understand and publicly confess their faith should be baptized. The movement, originally called the Swiss Brethren, originated and flourished in Zurich, Switzerland, under the leadership of Conrad Grebel (1498-1526) and Felix Manz (1498-1527). It then spread to Germany, Moravia, and the Netherlands. The Anabaptist movement began on January 21, 1525, when Grebel and Manz held their first adult "believer's baptism." Persecution quickly followed. Grebel died after being imprisoned in 1526, and the following year Manz was drowned in the Liemat River, the first Protestant martyred by other Protestants. The Anabaptists were predecessors of the Mennonite movement.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1525 THOMAS MÜNZER IS EXECUTED
Thomas Münzer (1490-1525) was a radical figure in the Reformation who became a leader in the Peasants' Revolt of 1524-1525. Initially he had been an associate of Martin Luther (1483-1546) and then received a call to preach at Zwickau, Germany, where he came in contact with a radical group called the Zwickau Prophets. However, he fell out of favor with them due to his violent anticlerical beliefs and his opposition to infant baptism. He then became a leader of the Peasants' Revolt. When the peasants were decisively defeated at Frankenhausen, Germany, in 1525, Münzer was captured and executed.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1525 TYNDALE'S NEW TESTAMENT IS PUBLISHED
While William Tyndale (1494-1536) was in school at Cambridge University in England, he embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. He also became convinced that in order for England to be evangelized, the people must have the Bible in English. Tyndale petitioned the bishop of London for permission to produce an English translation, but he was denied. Soon thereafter, Tyndale left England for Antwerp. There he translated the Scriptures into English while he was financed and protected by a group of English merchants. In 1525, he printed his first English New Testament. After being condemned for his actions in 1528, Tyndale was finally arrested in 1535 and executed the following year. However, Tyndale's legacy lives on, for his translation was the foundation for the King James Version, as well as the Revised Standard and the English Standard Versions that followed it.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1527 SATTLER IS MARTYRED FOR HIS SCHLEITHEIM CONFESSION OF FAITH
On February 24, 1527, the Anabaptists in Switzerland approved a confession of faith written by one of their leaders, Michael Sattler (d. 1527). The document, which was called the Brotherly Agreement of Some Children of God, was unanimously approved by those in attendance. The document contained seven major articles. The first was that baptism is reserved for those who make a trustworthy profession of repentance. The second article stated that any member who continues in sin after two warnings would be excluded from the fellowship. The third clause reserved the Lord's Table for baptized believers. The fourth called for separation from the world. The fifth article summarized the requirements for the pastorate. The sixth article banned church members from participating in military service. The final section prohibits the taking of oaths. Soon after the confession was approved, Sattler, like many other Anabaptists, was martyred.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
TWO OF A KIND
February 24,1527
Michael and Margaretha Sattler's convictions consistently took them down the road less traveled and more dangerous.
Michael Sattler was a Catholic priest in southern Germany in the 1520s and Margaretha a member of a lay order in the Catholic Church. The two were of one mind regarding their faith in God and their love for each other. They boldly broke their vows of celibacy, married, and joined the fledgling religious movement known as the Anabaptists.
The Sattlers were attracted to the movement because it considered obedience to God to be of primary importance. They were also attracted to the movement because of its belief in believer's baptism and strict pacifism.
As Michael became an Anabaptist leader, he saw the need for structure within the movement, which needed written guidelines in order to preserve freedom, set boundaries, and protect themselves against fanatics. In Schleitheim, Germany, on February 24, 1527, Michael Sattler brought together a small group of Anabaptist leaders, who wrote and adopted seven articles of faith, which they called the "Brotherly Union." They now had an organized church.
Michael went to Rottenburg, where officials seized the "Brotherly Union" papers from him. Nineteen people, including Michael and Margaretha, were arrested and tried for violations of Catholic doctrine and practice such as baptism, the Eucharist, unction, and veneration of the saints. Michael was also charged with leaving his monastery, marrying, and promoting a pacifist attitude toward the Turks.
In court Michael refuted the charges except the last, for he did believe in a pacifist approach to the Turks. He insisted that the Anabaptists had done nothing against the Bible and requested a debate with the Catholic leaders. Sattler asserted that if he and the other Anabaptists could be proved in error, they would gladly accept their punishment. "But if we are not shown to be in error, I hope to God that you will accept teaching and be converted." The court did not take kindly to the suggestion of his "teaching" them and came back with the sentence: "Michael Sattler shall be committed to the hangman, who shall take him to the square and there first cut out his tongue, then chain him to a wagon, tear his body twice with hot tongs there and five times more before the gate, then burn his body to powder as an arch-heretic."
During his excruciating execution, Michael prayed with slurred speech, "Almighty, eternal God, Thou art the way and the truth; because I have not been shown to be in error, I will with Thy help on this day testify to the truth and seal it with my blood."
After Michael's death the authorities tried in vain to persuade Margaretha to recant, but she declared that she would forever remain true to her Lord and to her husband. Eight days after Michael's execution, Margaretha was drowned in the Neckar River that passes through Rottenburg.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1529 COLLOQUY OF MARBURG IS CALLED
The Colloquy of Marburg was called in 1529 by the Reformers in Marburg, Germany, to form a united front against Roman Catholicism. The main issue was the Lord's Supper. Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) argued that the bread and wine were symbols of Christ, and that Communion was a sign of the grace that already had been bestowed upon the believer. Luther (1483-1546) and his supporters took Christ's words literally rather than metaphorically, insisting on a real presence of Christ in the elements. The group came to a general agreement on many important doctrines and issued fifteen articles that stated their position. In spite of their agreements, the colloquy overall served to divide rather than unite Protestantism. Disagreements about the Lord's Supper set the pattern for denominational differences that continue today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1529 PROTESTANTS EMERGE AT THE DIET OF SPEYER
The term Protestant was first used in 1529 at the Diet of Speyer, the Holy Roman Empire's parliament meeting in Speyer along the Rhine River in Bavaria (present-day Germany). There, several German princes signed a formal protest to Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) challenging his demand that the rulers of Germany enforce the 1521 Edict of Worms that had declared Luther and his followers to be outlaws. The signatories became known as Protestants, and the name came to be applied to all who left the Catholic Church to join the Reformation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1529 TURKS BESIEGE VIENNA
After becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, Charles V (1500-1558) began fighting vigorously to suppress the Lutheran movement and eliminate Protestantism throughout Europe. In 1529, just as Charles was preparing to take action against the Lutherans in his German territories, the Muslim Turks—led by Suleiman (1494-1566)—attacked Vienna, the capital of Charles' Austrian territories. The city of Vienna was vitally important to Germany, because if it were to fall to the Turks, Germany itself would be left vulnerable to Turkish attack. Therefore, Emperor Charles set aside his religious differences with his German subjects, and German Protestant forces joined Charles in fighting the Turks. Because of this coalition, they were able to force Suleiman and the Turkish army to withdraw from Vienna.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE REEK OF PATRICK HAMILTON
February 29, 1528
He was Scotland's first.
Born around 1503, Patrick Hamilton was from a Scottish noble family. He was a distant relative of King James V and therefore, technically, royalty. During his short life, he passed a number of milestones in rapid succession. When a teenager, he was appointed the titular abbot of Ferne in Ross-shire, then entered the University of Paris and graduated in 1520.
In Paris, Hamilton was exposed to the teachings of Martin Luther that were spreading across Europe. He returned to Scotland in 1523, unhappy with the Roman Catholic Church, but as the second son, he was expected to pursue the study of theology. He entered St. Leonard's College at St. Andrews that same year, excited about Luther's teaching of justification by faith.
By 1525, books containing the heresies of Luther were forbidden by the Scottish Parliament. The next year, Patrick Hamilton let it be known publicly that he believed those doctrines. In response to an accusation of heresy in 1527, he went abroad to avoid further problems with the church.
However, this trip only served to strengthen his resolve as a follower of Luther. He went to Wittenberg, Germany, and personally met both Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. He also met William Tyndale, who was translating the Bible into English. While in Germany he wrote a short book entitled Common Places, which explained the principles and doctrines of the Reformation, emphasizing, in particular, justification by faith in Christ alone.
Soon he returned to Scotland, where he began preaching the doctrines of the Reformation. His preaching and family connections made him a considerable threat to the Roman Catholic Church, and in January 1528, Hamilton was called to meet with Archbishop Beaton and other Catholic theologians at St. Andrews. He was examined and sent home—perhaps in the hope that he would further incriminate himself or leave the country to save himself.
A month later, he again was summoned to appear before the archbishop and his council on thirteen charges of heresy. He was convicted and sentenced to be burned at the stake that same day, February 29, 1528. The execution was carried out in such haste that they did not have enough wood and gunpowder on hand to produce a huge blaze. As a result, Hamilton suffered a slow and horrible death. He was the first Protestant martyr in Scotland.
Hamilton's influence grew as word of his martyrdom spread, making him more popular in death than in life. Soon all of Scotland was discussing Reformed theology. One of his accusers, Alexander Alexius, was converted as a result of Hamilton's testimony and became a leader of the Reformation.
A witness of his burning later remarked, "The reek (stench of the smoke) of Patrick Hamilton has infected as many as it did blow upon."
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1530 THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION IS READ PUBLICLY
Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) hoped that some conciliation between Catholics and Protestants would be possible during his reign, so he called the Diet of Augsburg. At this meeting on April 25, 1530, the Augsburg Confession was read aloud publicly in German, taking two hours. The Confession had been commissioned by John (1468-1532), elector of Saxony, and written by Martin Luther (1483-1546), Justus Jonas (1493-1555), Johann Bugenhagen (1485-1558), and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560). The Confession was a summary of the evangelical faith from the perspective of these Reformers. The Catholic reply, called the Papalist Confutation, accepted parts of it but condemned others. Although the emperor demanded that the Reformers comply with the Confutation, Melanchthon wrote a reply that was added as an addendum to the Augsburg Confession. This document was the earliest formal creedal statement of Lutheranism and became the authoritative Confession of the Lutheran church.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1531 MEXICAN INDIAN REPORTS A VISION AT GUADALUPE
As the Spanish conquistadors moved through the Americas, Catholic missionaries usually followed close behind. This was the case as Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico City in 1524. The next year, an Indian convert named Quauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) was baptized by a Franciscan priest, and his name was changed to Juan Diego. In 1531, Juan Diego reported having a vision of the Virgin Mary in Tepeyac, northwest of Mexico City. He claimed that she had appeared to him and charged him to tell the bishop to build a temple on that site. She then is said to have left an imprint of herself on Juan Diego's cactus-cloth garment. In the years since the reported vision, many miracles have been attributed to this imprinted garment, and millions have visited the shrine built on the site.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1531 THE INQUISITION BEGINS IN PORTUGAL
Thousands of Spanish Jews fled to Portugal after their expulsion from Spain in 1492, but four years later they were forced to be baptized or leave Portugal. The Spanish Inquisition, which was authorized by Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484) in 1478, did not spread to the neighboring kingdom of Portugal until 1531, when Pope Leo X (1475-1521) extended it to Portugal. An inquisition patterned after that in Spain was established with tribunals being set up in Lisbon and other major cities. The Jews who had not been baptized as Christians were the particular target. In all, approximately forty thousand Jews were brought to trial in Portugal and eighteen hundred were burned at the stake. The last burning in Portugal was on October 27, 1765.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1532 SOLOMON MOLCHO IS BURNED
In the early sixteenth century a Jew named David Reubeni (d. 1538) declared he was sent by God to free the Holy Land. Solomon Molcho (d. 1532) was among his followers. Reubeni and Molcho traveled to Rome and obtained an audience with Pope Clement VII (1479-1534). They attempted to gain the pope's approval for an army of Marranos—Jews who had undergone Christian baptism but were rumored to be secret Jews—to conquer the Holy Land. The pope, however, denied their request, threatening Molcho with execution. They next proceeded to entreat Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) to employ the Jews in the fight against the Turks. Their meeting was unfruitful again, and in 1532, Molcho was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in Mantua, Italy.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1534 HENRY VIII'S ACT OF SUPREMACY PASSES
King Henry VIII (1491-1547) of England was a devout Catholic who had received the title "Defender of the Faith" from Pope Leo X (1475-1521). However, in 1529, Henry began an assault upon papal control of England in order to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) and marry Anne Boleyn (1507-1537). In 1534, the English parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry to be "the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England," thus placing England outside the Roman Catholic Church's control. Appeals to Rome were forbidden, clergy were forced to submit to the throne, and church assets were appropriated. The Act of Supremacy laid the legal groundwork for the English Reformation. It is also the basis upon which English bishops today still are appointed by the sovereign.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE FUGITIVE TRANSLATOR
June 18, 1528
Can you imagine William Tyndale on the Ten Most Wanted list?
Tyndale was born about 1494, and was educated first at Oxford, where he was ordained into the priesthood and then at Cambridge, where he joined the Reformation. After completing his education, he felt he needed to get away from the academic atmosphere of the university to be able to think, pray, and study the Greek New Testament on his own. His solution was to take a job as tutor for a wealthy family. During that time he became convinced that England would never be evangelized using Latin Bibles. He felt that "it was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were laid before their eyes in their mother tongue."
However, Tyndale's efforts to secure permission from the bishop of London to translate the Bible into English were unsuccessful, so he left England, never to return.
Tyndale settled in Antwerp, where sympathetic English merchants hid and protected him as he translated the New Testament from Greek into English and parts of the Old Testament from Hebrew. His first English New Testament was printed in Germany in 1525.
As Tyndale's English Bibles were smuggled into England, the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London began attacking him fiercely. Finally on June 18, 1528, the English cardinal Thomas Wolsey ordered the ambassador to the Low Countries to demand that the Low Countries' regent arrest Tyndale and extradite him to England. It took his pursuers seven years to find him, but Tyndale was finally arrested near Brussels in 1535. He was held in a castle dungeon near Brussels for eighteen months before his trial.
A long list of charges was drawn up against him: He had maintained that faith alone justifies and that to believe in the forgiveness of sins and to embrace the mercy offered in the gospel was enough for salvation.
In his early forties, Tyndale was found guilty at his trial and condemned to death as a heretic. Referring to the king's opposition to his English Bible, Tyndale's final words were, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes." Then William Tyndale was strangled and his body burned.
The year that Tyndale died two English Bibles containing his translation of the New Testament were circulating England, awaiting the approval of King Henry VIII. When the first was presented to him, the king, not realizing it was Tyndale who had translated the New Testament, proclaimed, "ln God's name let it go abroad among the people."
Two years later the king directed that every church in England display "one book of the whole Bible in English." Tyndale's dying prayer was answered.
Tyndale's Bible translations were his lasting legacy. They were so well done that they comprise 90 percent of the wordings of the King James Version published nearly one hundred years later and 75 percent of the wordings of the Revised Standard Version of 1952.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1535 ANABAPTISTS EVENTUALLY LOSE IN THE MÜNSTER REBELLION
As the Reformation blossomed, it spread throughout Europe and in 1532, it reached the city of Münster in Westphalia, Germany, near the Netherlands. A group of Anabaptist settlers soon arrived, seeking to establish the kingdom of God in Münster. When the local bishop assembled an army to subdue this new group, they defended themselves and gained control of the city. In the summer of 1534, Jan of Leiden (d. 1535), who claimed to be receiving messages from God, assumed sole leadership of the city. In September, he took the title "King David," and instituted the practice of polygamy. He was able to hold off the bishop's army until the following summer, but then he was defeated and executed. For many years to come, most Europeans associated all Anabaptists with the Münster Rebellion.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1536 MENNO SIMONS IS BAPTIZED AS AN ANABAPTIST
Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Roman Catholic priest in the Dutch province of Friesland, was startled to hear that a man had been executed for being an "Anabaptist" (a rebaptizer). As Menno quietly studied the Scriptures he found no mention of infant baptism and became convinced of the doctrine of believer's baptism. However, he remained in the security of his parish until members of his own congregation, including his brother, staged a militant Anabaptist occupation of a nearby cloister and were executed. This event spurred Menno to repent of his apathy toward God's Word. In 1536, Menno renounced his priesthood and was baptized as a believer. He soon became the leader of the Anabaptists. His followers, who came to be called Mennonites, were heavily persecuted as they were neither Catholic nor identifiably Protestant.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1536 CALVIN PUBLISHES INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION
John Calvin (1509-1564) was a French scholar who was converted to Christ and joined the Reformation. Because of the persecution of Protestants, he was forced to be continually on the move throughout France, Switzerland, and Italy. Despite the danger, he began writing his theology. In March 1536, he published the first edition of his most influential work, Institutes of the Christian Religion. It was a small, seven-chapter volume, prefaced by a letter to King Francis I (1494-1547) of France defending the Protestants against their enemies. Calvin revised it five times, and by 1559, it had grown to seventy-nine chapters. The Institutes quickly became popular among Protestants as a cogent exposition and defense of their doctrines. It is the most influential Protestant systematic theology of all time.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1537 "MATTHEW'S BIBLE" IS PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND
Matthew's Bible, the first authorized English translation of the Bible, was published in England in 1537 by Thomas Matthew—which was actually a pen name that concealed the identity of the true editor, John Rogers (1500-1555). This version bore the words "Set forth with the king's most gracious license" on its title page. The Matthew's Bible included much of an earlier translation by William Tyndale (1494-1536). It was replaced in 1539 by the "Great Bible," which was basically a revision of the Matthew's Bible by Miles Coverdale (1488-1569) and published by royal authority.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1539 JURISDICTION OVER POLISH JEWS TRANSFERS FROM KING TO NOBILITY
Beginning with the Crusades and carrying through the fourteenth century, persecution in Western Europe drove Jews eastward. The expulsions from Spain, Portugal, and Italy in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries greatly increased the migration. By contrast, Poland encouraged the immigration of Jews, who brought with them skills such as diplomacy, education, and business. In 1539, jurisdiction over Polish Jews was transferred from the Polish king to the land-owning nobility. This change in authority allowed Jews to rise as managers of great estates, and by 1600, Polish Jews were known for their craftsmanship and were involved in agriculture, tax collection, and trade. In Poland, Jews experienced a more normal life than they had previously in Europe.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1540 POPE PAUL III APPROVES JESUITS
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was a Spanish monk who became increasingly interested in mysticism and asceticism. After experiencing several visions, he wrote a manual called Spiritual Exercises, which dealt with personal spiritual warfare. In 1536, Loyola formed a brotherhood with six other like-minded men who were also interested in committing themselves to a life of poverty, chastity, and service to the pope. Their group, called the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, gained Pope Paul Ill's (1468-1549) formal approval in 1540. Loyola was chosen as general of the society. The Jesuits were known for their dedication and obedience to the pope, and for selfless missionary work, especially among the poor.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1542 SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT COMPLETES THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM
After Selim the Grim (1467-1520), ruler of the Ottoman Empire, defeated the Mameluke sultan of Egypt and occupied Jerusalem in 1516-1517, the Christians and Jews of the Holy Land welcomed him. His early death in 1520 brought his son, Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), to the throne of the empire in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). The Ottoman Empire reached its zenith during Suleiman's forty-six-year reign. In Jerusalem, Suleiman improved the status of Christians, and from approximately 1537 to 1542 he laid out the Temple area as it is today and rebuilt the walls and gates of Jerusalem, which had been without a wall since 1219. The Damascus Gate was the last to be finished in 1542. The walls still stand today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1542 FRANCIS XAVIER BEGINS HIS MISSIONARY EFFORTS
Francis Xavier (1506-1552), the son of a Spanish high official, became a Jesuit priest after meeting Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556). After working with Ignatius in the Society of Jesus, he sailed from Lisbon on April 7, 1541, to start his missionary career, reaching Goa on the west coast of India in 1542. He remained there for three years, preaching and ministering to the sick. He next found great success evangelizing pearl divers along the coast of southwestern India, baptizing thousands of them. By 1549, he had gone on to Japan. Pope Pius X named him the "Patron of Foreign Missions," and he was canonized in 1622.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1543 COPERNICUS WRITES ON REVOLUTIONS OF THE HEAVENLY SPHERES
Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish astronomer, physician, and cleric. He was the first person to work out mathematically a heliocentric concept of the solar system, in which the earth and all planets revolve around the sun. Prior to Copernicus, the prevailing concept of the solar system was geocentric, with the planets, sun, and moon revolving around the earth. At the end of his life, in 1543, he published On Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in which he described his new theory. He dedicated the book to Pope Paul III (1468— 1549), but nonetheless both the Catholic Church and Martin Luther opposed the Copernican theory on theological grounds. On Revolutions was on the Catholic "Index of Forbidden Books" until 1758. The Copernican theory of the solar system became the foundation for modern astronomy.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1545 THE COUNCIL OF TRENT IS CALLED
To counter the success of the Protestant movement throughout Europe, Pope Paul III (1468-1549) called for a council of the church. The council's start was delayed for years due to conflict between Charles V (1500-1558), Francis I (1494-1547), and Pope Paul over its need and purpose. The council finally convened in Trent, Italy, in December 1545, with the purposes of settling the religious disputes with the Protestants, reforming ecclesiastical abuses, and beginning a crusade against Islam. The council met in three stages: 1545-47, 1551-52, and 1562-63. By the third meeting, all hope was gone for reconciliation with the Protestants. The decrees issued by the council provided the foundation for a revitalization of Catholicism and set the boundaries of the Catholic faith.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1548 FIRST JEWS SETTLE IN THE AMERICAS (BRAZIL)
Although the Inquisition began in Spain, it eventually spread to Portugal. As a result of the Portuguese Inquisition, many Jews were expelled from the country and forced to resettle in Brazil in 1548. This forced resettlement was the first permanent Jewish settlement in the New World. Although the Inquisition never was officially established in the Americas, the Jews in Brazil remained under constant threat of persecution. In 1580, when King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) seized the throne of Portugal, putting Portugal under the auspices of the Spanish Empire, the Jews in Brazil were forced to go underground. They were later involved in the unsuccessful Dutch attempt to conquer Brazil.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1549 FRANCIS XAVIER OPENS JAPAN FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS
Regarded as the greatest Roman Catholic missionary, Francis Xavier (1506-1552) set out from India for Japan, arriving on August 15, 1549, with two other Jesuits and a Japanese interpreter. He spent two years in Japan teaching the Christian faith throughout the country. After his trip, many Jesuits followed him and subsequently many Franciscans as well. By 1581, there were more than two hundred churches and 150,000 Roman Catholics in Japan.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1549 CRANMER DRAFTS THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
In 1547, Edward VI (1537-1553) inherited the throne of England. He commissioned a compellation of the existing English liturgy, with some additions, to direct the worship of the Anglican Church. Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) drafted the Book of Common Prayer, Parliament approved it, and it was first used in 1549. The Book of Common Prayer replaced three Latin manuals. In 1552, some controversial portions of the book, such as prayer for the dead and certain ceremonial articles, were removed. After its abolition by Queen Mary (1516-1558) and restoration by Elizabeth I (1533-1603), the Book of Common Prayer was revised again in 1604. It was abolished again during the Protectorate under the Puritans. In 1662, the book was reestablished as the official service book of the Church of England as it still is today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1551 ROYAL DECREE RECOGNIZES THE COUNCIL OF FOUR LANDS IN POLAND
The rallying point for the Jewish population of Poland was the Council of the Four Lands, which functioned as a parliament for the Polish Jewish community. The four lands were Great Poland with its capital Posen, Little Poland with its capital Cracow, Polish Russia (Podolia and Galicia) with its capital Lemberg-Lwow, and Volhynia with its capital Ostrag. In 1551, a royal decree officially sanctioned its functions and powers. The council regulated the Jewish community's financial affairs, represented it at the royal court, directed religious observances, and supervised a hierarchy of Jewish courts. It met twice annually, and every Jewish community sent an official as its representative. The council functioned until 1764 when it was abolished by the Polish Parliament.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1553 THE FORTY-TWO ARTICLES ACT IS FORMULATED
During the reign of King Edward VI (1547-1553) the English Reformation took significant steps forward. One of these steps was the formulation of the Forty-Two Articles Act. Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), the archbishop of Canterbury, drafted the Forty-Two Articles, which mirror the Augsburg Confession in their teaching on the Trinity and justification by faith. They followed Calvin in their outlook on predestination and the Lord's Supper. In 1553, they were adopted as the Anglican Church's first Protestant confession of faith. In 1562, the Convocation of Anglican Clergy modified and condensed the articles to thirty-nine.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1553 MARY TUDOR ASCENDS TO THE THRONE AND RESTORES CATHOLICISM
Queen Mary I (1516-1558) of England—daughter of Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), the first wife of King Henry VIII (1491-1547)—was proclaimed queen of England on July 19, 1553, and quickly sought to return England to its Catholic roots. Initially she pledged to treat the Protestant minority with tolerance, but before long her patience with the Protestants grew thin. Fearing a revolt that would place her Protestant sister Elizabeth (1533-1603) on the throne, she issued an edict on March 4, 1554, outlawing Protestantism as a heresy. She earned the title "Bloody Mary" as she ruthlessly enforced the edict from 1555 until her death in 1558. In the end, her reign of terror claimed the lives of more than three hundred Protestants, including the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), and deposed Bishops Hugh Latimer (1485-1555) and Nicolas Ridley (1500-1555).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1553 COPIES OF THE TALMUD ARE BURNED IN ROME
Anti-Semitism was rampant in sixteenth-century Europe. One of the most flagrant examples took place on September 9, 1553. Cardinal Caraffa (1476-1559), who later became Pope Paul IV, organized the confiscation and public burning of copies of the Talmud in the streets of Rome. The cardinal, who organized the event with the support of Pope Julius III (1487-1555), chose September 9 because it was the Jewish holy day Rosh Hashanah, and he desired to make the event as painful as possible for the Jews. After the first burning in Rome, a wave of Talmud burning and Jewish persecution broke out through all of Italy. As a result, the Jews were forced to move their printing operations from Italy to Poland.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 HEAD OF ITALIAN INQUISITION BECOMES POPE PAUL IV Giovanni Pietro Caraffa (1476-1559) descended from Italian nobility and worked his way up in the Roman Catholic Church from chamberlain to bishop to papal envoy. He then was appointed cardinal by Pope Paul III (1468-1549). A staunch supporter of the Counter-Reformation, he reorganized the Italian Inquisition. His election as Pope Paul IV in 1555 resolved the century-long conflict between the Inquisition and previous popes. He continued his fervent support of the Roman Inquisition, as well as anti-Spanish and anti-imperial policies. His extremism and his publication of the "Index of Forbidden Books" lessened his popularity.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 HUGUENOT REFUGE IS ESTABLISHED IN BRAZIL
The French Calvinists, called Huguenots, were greatly persecuted during the Reformation. During the reign of King Henry II (1519-1559) of France, the government instituted special courts whose function was to put the Huguenots on trial—and, in many cases, to execute them. However, as persecution of the Huguenots increased, so did the number of adherents to the Reformed faith in France. In 1555, King Henry's cousin, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572), who had become a Huguenot, sponsored an attempt to establish a colony in Brazil to which Huguenots could escape for refuge. The colony was established near the present site of Rio de Janeiro. However, the Portuguese would not allow the French to gain a foothold in their New World territory and destroyed the short-lived colony in 1557.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
BLOODY MARY
March 4, 1554
Sometimes things get worse before they get better.
Born in 1516, Mary Tudor was the only surviving child of King Henry VII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was raised a Roman Catholic. When she was fifteen her parents divorced, and mother and daughter went into separate exiles, never to see each other again. When she was seventeen, her parents' marriage was declared void after the birth of her half sister, Elizabeth, and Mary was declared a bastard, losing her right of succession to the throne. Later, when Parliament revoked the annulment of her parents' marriage and restored her legitimacy, Mary returned to prominence and became vocal about her Catholicism.
In 1544, Henry VIII wrote his will, designating the order of succession to the throne to be his only son Edward, Mary, and then Elizabeth, if either of the first two died without having produced an heir.
At the death of Henry VIII, his nine-year-old son, Edward, became King Edward VI. A godly boy, Edward moved England decisively toward Protestantism. Suffering from congenital syphilis contracted from his father, he died at the age of sixteen. A few weeks before his death, without authorization from Parliament, he amended his father's will by naming his cousin Lady Jane Grey, also an evangelical, as his successor instead of his sister Mary.
Jane Grey's reign lasted just nine days before she was replaced by Mary, who became Queen Mary I in 1553.
Upon becoming queen, Mary set about returning England to its Roman Catholic roots. At first Mary dealt tolerantly with the Protestants, hoping to convert them to Catholicism. But Mary quickly realized that her lenient approach with the Protestants was not working, and she feared a Protestant revolt would place her Protestant half sister, Elizabeth, on the throne. Therefore, on March 4, 1554, Mary issued an edict that reinstated Catholic worship and outlawed Protestantism.
She earned her title "Bloody Mary" in the enforcement of this edict, following the advice of her advisors to kill anyone who was a threat to her. Lady Jane Grey, her husband, and her father were executed, as well as a hundred lesser rebels who were part of a Protestant plot to take back the throne. Mary also held her half sister, Elizabeth, in the Tower of London for months, while investigating her role in the plot. Elizabeth survived, eventually succeeding Mary as queen.
In 1555, the reign of terror began with the execution of Protestant clergymen who refused to accept the reestablished Catholic creed. Each "heretic" was given a chance to recant and then was burned at the stake if they did not. Many Protestant ministers and leaders were executed, but most of the martyrs were laypeople who had converted to Christ as the Reformation spread through England.
In all, Bloody Mary's reign of terror claimed the lives of more than three hundred Protestants. It ended with her death in 1558.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 PEACE OF AUGSBURG IS REACHED
After the Catholic emperor Charles V (1500-1558) was defeated by Protestant princes of Germany, he commissioned his brother Ferdinand to settle affairs with Germany at the Diet of Augsburg. The Peace of Augsburg was reached in 1555. The terms of the Peace of Augsburg gave each prince, whether Protestant or Catholic, absolute control over the religion in his domain, forcing all subjects to conform or emigrate. It gave Protestant rulers and cities protection equal to Catholic ones, but Calvinists and Anabaptists were excluded from this protection. By giving secular rulers control over religion in their domain, the agreement weakened true Christianity. It also signified the end of German political and religious unity. This agreement held until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1555 LATIMER AND RIDLEY ARE BURNED AT THE STAKE
Hugh Latimer (1485-1555) and then Nicolas Ridley (1500-1555) served as the English royal chaplain under King Henry VIII (1491-1547). However, when Henry's daughter Mary Tudor (1516-1558) ascended to the throne as Queen Mary I in 1553, Latimer and Ridley were removed from their leadership positions, tried as heretics, and condemned to death for their Protestant faith. On October 16, 1555, Latimer and Ridley were led out to be burned at the stake. As the fire was lit, Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out." The candle lit by the faith of these men still blazes today.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1556 THOMAS CRANMER IS BURNED AT THE STAKE
Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) rose to prominence as the archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of King Henry VIII (1491-1547). However in 1553, Queen Mary I (1516-1558) ascended to the throne, and her horrific treatment of Protestants earned her the nickname "Bloody Mary" and soon engulfed Cranmer. He was sentenced to death as a heretic, but Mary and the Catholic bishops coaxed Cranmer into signing a recantation, secretly plotting to kill him anyway after his public confession of Catholicism. At the public ceremony, Cranmer instead denounced Catholicism and boldly affirmed his faith in God and the Bible. Then he broke away and ran straight to the stake and stood resolutely to be burned. The flames quickly consumed him, but Roman Catholicism in England never recovered from his denunciation.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE SURPRISE ENDING
October 16, 1555
Be thou faithful unto death.
In 1534, King Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. This action did not indicate a change in doctrine but merely meant that Henry VIII now controlled the English Church. However, Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, was a committed Protestant believer. Cranmer appointed Hugh Latimer as royal chaplain. Latimer had experienced a dramatic conversion when another minister shared the gospel with him. Cranmer appointed Nicholas Ridley, who still espoused the Roman Catholic faith, as his own personal chaplain.
In 1547, Henry VIII died and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son, a sincere Christian, who became King Edward VI. During Edward's reign, Archbishop Cranmer had great influence, and the liturgy of English churches was changed from Latin to English. Ridley, now a convinced evangelical, became a bishop, and Latimer, no longer a bishop, was preaching every Sunday. Unfortunately, Edward died in 1553 and was succeeded by his half sister Mary Tudor, a Roman Catholic. She was crowned Queen Mary I and soon earned her nickname of "Bloody Mary." She replaced all bishops with Roman Catholics, and Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley were imprisoned and condemned to death.
On October 16, 1555, Latimer and Ridley were led out of prison to be burned at the stake. As the fire was lit, Latimer said, "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out."
Cranmer was then "degraded," a ceremony in which all symbols of his office of archbishop were removed from him. After much pressure Cranmer finally signed a recantation denouncing Luther and affirming the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
But Queen Mary and the Catholic bishops had no intention of sparing Cranmer. They planned to have him make a public statement of his conversion and then execute him.
On the appointed day, Cranmer was brought to the platform to speak to the assembled crowd. He confirmed his faith in God and in the Bible. Then to the horror of the church dignitaries, he said, "As for the Pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and Antichrist, with all his false doctrine." Amidst an uproar Cranmer was pulled off the platform, but he broke away and ran straight to the stake and stood resolutely to be burned.
The flames soon consumed him, but his brave denunciation destroyed forever the power of Roman Catholicism in England, making it a Protestant nation. The deaths of Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer indeed lit a candle that never has been put out.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1558 ELIZABETH I BECOMES QUEEN
When Henry VIII (1491-1547) died, his will stated that his son, Edward (1537-1553), was to succeed him, followed by his first daughter, Mary (1516-1558), and then his second daughter, Elizabeth (1533-1603). After Edward died, the country was torn apart by Mary's reign of terror, and Elizabeth inherited England's throne in 1558. By the time Elizabeth died forty-five years later, England had defeated the Spanish Armada, the country was thoroughly Protestant, the Union Jack flew over every ocean, and English culture was at its zenith. Elizabeth's keen intellect and ingenuity shaped her domestic and foreign policies. She sensed that the country was primarily Protestant and consequently reinstated Protestant policies and largely abolished religious persecution in England. Elizabeth died in 1603 and was succeeded by James I (1566-1625), the son of Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1559 "INDEX OF FORBIDDEN BOOKS" IS PUBLISHED
When Pope Paul IV (1476-1559) commissioned the Congregation of the Inquisition, one of their assignments was to produce a list of books that church members were not allowed to read. In 1559, this list was published under the title "Index of Forbidden Books." After the Council of Trent revised the list, Pope Pius IV (1499-1565) introduced a new index in 1564. This edition included ten principles for determining which books were to be included in future editions of the index. In the subsequent four centuries, several popes produced various editions. Vatican Council II (1962-1965) announced that no future revisions were to be produced. However, Catholics still are under obligation to avoid books that the church declares to be spiritually hazardous.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1559 JOHN KNOX RETURNS TO SCOTLAND
John Knox (1514-1572) was educated at St. Andrews University and ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. However, by 1542, he had been converted and had joined the Reformation. After being appointed preacher to a garrison of soldiers in 1547, Knox was captured and made a galley slave. Freed after nineteen months, he returned to England. During Edward VI's reign, Knox served as a chaplain to the king, but when Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) took the throne, Knox was forced to flee to the continent. Returning to Scotland in 1559, Knox became the leader of the Scottish Reformation and, after Mary was deposed, preached at the coronation of her son James VI (1566-1625). The relentless efforts of John Knox made Scotland the most Calvinistic country in the world and the birthplace of modern Presbyterianism.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1560 FIRST BOOK OF DISCIPLINE IS PUBLISHED
In an effort to delineate the parameters of congregational worship and governance in Scotland, a six-member panel of leaders was appointed by Parliament in 1560. Led chiefly by John Knox (1514-1572), this committee drafted the First Book of Discipline. Twenty-one years later, in 1581, the Second Book of Discipline was published. The Books of Discipline explained the relationship between church and state and defined the roles of church offices. Defining a church polity very similar to the structure in Geneva, the Books of Discipline served as the charter of Presbyterian government for the Church of Scotland.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1560 THE GENEVA BIBLE IS POPULARIZED
The Geneva Bible was an English translation made in 1560 by Protestant exiles in Geneva. Its translators likely included John Knox (1514-1572) and William Whittingham (1524-1579). The Old Testament was primarily a revision of the Great Bible, and the New Testament was primarily a revision of William Tyndale's work. The Geneva Bible's Calvinistic annotations bothered King James I (1566-1625) of England, but the increasingly Puritan populace embraced it wholeheartedly. It quickly became the household Bible of English-speaking Protestants and was used widely for two generations. It gradually was replaced by the 1611 Authorized Version. The last edition of the Geneva Bible was published in 1644.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1561 THE COLLOQUY OF POISSY FAILS
In an attempt to produce a lasting peace between Roman Catholics and Protestants in France, Catherine de Medicis (1519-1589), the Queen Mother, called for a national council of the French Church. Catherine's desire was to obtain peace and harmony in France so that the nation could continue to develop and gain influence. However, since two church councils could not take place simultaneously, Pope Pius IV (1499-1565) reconvened the Council of Trent, which had adjourned in 1552, to prevent Catherine's council. However, Catherine went forward with her plan and titled the assembly a "colloquy" instead. The colloquy failed to meet any of Catherine's goals. She had underestimated the depth of theological differences between the Catholic and Protestant camps. Instead of resulting in peace, the assembly gave the appearance of royal approval of the Protestants, which increased the tension between the competing parties.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1562 WARS OF RELIGION IN FRANCE BEGIN
Following the death of King Henry II (1519-1559) of France in 1559, his successors struggled with the house of Guise. Catherine de Me'dicis (1519-1589) was the mother of Francis II (1544-1560), Charles IX (1550-1574), and Henry III (1541-1589), who all successively inherited the throne of France. When Francis II died unexpectedly a year after succeeding his father, Catherine became regent for Charles IX, her ten-year-old son. As the Guises were staunch Roman Catholics, Catherine sided with the French Protestants, called Huguenots. After the failure of the Colloquy of Poissy to settle the differences between Catholics and Protestants, in 1562, Catherine issued the Edict of St. Germain granting the Huguenots freedom of worship. In reprisal, two months later the Guises massacred Huguenots worshiping in the village of Vassy, thus beginning the Wars of Religion in France, which lasted on and off until 1570.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1562 GERMAN MINISTERS WRITE THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM In 1562, Zacharias Ursinus (1534-1583) and Kaspar Olevianus (1536-1587), two young German ministers, met in Heidelberg at the request of Elector Frederick III (1515-1576) to produce a catechism that could be used to teach children and provide doctrinal guidelines for pastors and teachers. With the help and advice of Heidelberg University faculty, the two men wrote the catechism that was approved by the Synod of Heidelberg. The catechism was first published in Germany on January 19, 1563, and included a preface by Prince Frederick. Three other German editions were produced in 1563, followed by a Dutch edition in 1566. The Synod of Dort slightly revised the catechism between 1618 and 1619. Since then it has been translated into multiple languages and is one of the standard Reformed catechisms.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
FROM APATHY TO COURAGE
January 31, 1561
A man of peace died in peace.
Born in 1496, Menno Simons grew up in the Dutch province of Friesland. At twenty-eight, he was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood and appointed to a parish near his home.
He settled into a routine of saying Mass, baptizing newborns, playing cards, and drinking with his fellow priests. Meanwhile, Simons was also reading Luther and began entertaining doubts concerning certain tenets of the Catholic faith.
His first doubts centered on whether bread and wine became the actual body and blood of Christ. An intense study of Scripture led him to the conclusion that he had been deceived by the teachings of the church. Yet he remained a Catholic priest. It was a comfortable living. It paid the bills.
Then troubling news reached his ears. A man in a nearby town had been executed for adhering to an unusual new doctrine: rebaptism! The death of this "Anabaptist" (rebaptizer) drove Simons to a renewed search of the Scriptures. He could find no mention of infant baptism, and he became more and more convinced that "believer's baptism" was instead the true Christian model. Still he remained a Catholic. It was safe. It was secure.
But then members of his own congregation, his brother Pieter among them, staged a militant Anabaptist occupation of a local cloister and were massacred by the authorities. Menno's soul was crushed. He realized that in his role as a spiritual leader he might have been able to prevent the tragedy. "The blood of these people, although misled, fell so hot upon my heart that I could not stand it, nor find rest in my soul," he wrote.
He repented of his sins, begging God for grace and a clean heart. He prayed for the courage to "preach His exalted adorable name and holy Word in purity, and make known His truth to His glory." Menno Simons was reborn.
As he began to preach the Bible, Menno's life became increasingly at risk. In 1536, he quietly renounced his priesthood, was rebaptized, and began an itinerant career of radical Biblical reform that lasted until his death.
As Menno Simons rose to a place of revered influence within the Anabaptist movement, his spirit of moderation helped unite various Anabaptist groups into one distinctive Christian body. Neither Catholic nor identifiably Protestant, Menno Simons' followers came to be called Mennonites and maintained a view of the church as a pure bride for Christ, untainted by earthly political allegiance. Believing that Jesus called Christians to forsake the sword for the Word of God, they refused to accept secular offices or join an army. As such, authorities everywhere, both civil and religious, viewed them as traitors. Many were martyred for their understanding of the example of Jesus Christ. But Menno Simons, a man of peace in a world of war, eluded capture to the end and died in his own bed on January 31, 1561.
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
1563 FOXE'S BOOK OF MARTYRS IS PUBLISHED
John Foxe (1516-1587) was a Protestant educator in England with a keen interest in history. When Mary Tudor (r. 1553-1558) took the English throne and restored Roman Catholicism, Foxe and his wife fled England, taking refuge in Germany. Despite having to flee, Foxe continued to pursue his passion of writing about English church history, supporting his family with odd jobs and tutoring while he wrote. In Frankfurt, Foxe's interest turned to the martyrs of the Protestant Reformation after meeting Edmund Grindal (1519-1583), who was recording the stories of the martyrs. Foxe continued Grindal's work, and with the help of the printer John Day (1522-1584), published Actes and Monumentes, popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, in 1563. The four editions published during Foxe's lifetime profoundly influenced Elizabethan England.
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1563 THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES ARE ISSUED
In response to the religious controversies of the sixteenth century, the 1563 Convocation of the Church of England revised the Forty-two Articles Act of 1553 into the Thirty-Nine Articles, which have remained nearly unchanged to this day. The intention was not to formulate a complete creedal system, but rather to define the position of the Anglican Church in relation to the issues of the day. The Thirty-Nine Articles cover the doctrines of Scripture, the Trinity, salvation, the sacraments, and the church's ministry. They still stand as the Church of England's official confession of faith.
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1564 CALVIN DIES AND IS SUCCEEDED BY BEZA
Reformed Protestantism flourished under John Calvin (1509-1564) in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1558, Calvin asked Theodore Beza (1519-1605) to come to Geneva to be a professor of Greek. Beza was a former Catholic lawyer who had been converted to Christ after a physical and spiritual crisis in 1548. Once in Geneva, Beza gained much influence in the movement, eventually becoming rector and teaching theology at the Genevan Academy. At Calvin's death in 1564, all of his responsibilities fell to Beza. This included heading the Genevan Academy, moderating the Company of Pastors of Geneva, working with the city magistrates, and being the leader and spokesperson for Reformed Protestantism.
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1565 AUGUSTINIANS ARRIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES
After Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands for Spain in 1521, the first major missionary effort by the Roman Catholic Church came in 1565, with the arrival of Spaniard Miguel de Legaspi (1510-1572). The royal court of Mexico sent him to the Philippines accompanied by Augustinian priests. The Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Jesuits closely followed the Augustinians. By 1620, approximately half of the population, now under Spanish rule, was nominally Roman Catholic. It was not until the United States took control of the Philippines from Spain in 1898 that Protestant missionaries were permitted. In 2000, the Philippines were 67 percent Roman Catholic and 17 percent evangelical.
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1565 TERESA OF AVILA WRITES THE WAY OF PERFECTION
Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) became a nun and entered the Spanish Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation in 1533. There in the 1550s, she began to have heavenly visions and mystical experiences. Seeking to live a life of perfection, she founded a convent in Avila, Spain, under the original Carmelite Rule, and named it after St. Joseph. While there in 1565, she wrote The Way of Perfection, an instructional book for her nuns. This and her other written works teach a life of prayer, meditation, asceticism, and mysticism. From 1567, she worked to reform the Carmelite order throughout Spain, setting up several reformed convents obedient to the original Carmelite Rule. Teresa of Avila was a voice not only for mysticism but also for reform within the Catholic Church.
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1566 JOSEPH NASI IS MADE DUKE OF NAXOS
Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity but secretly maintained their Jewish practices were called Marranos. In the sixteenth century, an influential Marrano named Dona Gracia Nasi (1510-1569) fled Portugal with her nephew, Joao (later Joseph) Nasi (1524-1579). After completing his studies, he worked for Nasi family enterprises in Antwerp, Belgium. Joao later joined his aunt in Istanbul, where he embraced Judaism and took the name Joseph Nasi. He obtained the Turkish sultan's permission to rebuild the ancient city of Tiberias as a city-state for Jews. Nasi rose to such power in the government of the sultan that he became the virtual ruler of the empire. In 1566, he was made Duke of Naxos and used his power and wealth to serve his Jewish people.
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1566 THE SYNOD OF ANTWERP MEETS IN SECRET
As the Lowlands—known to us today as the Netherlands and Belgium—neared rebellion against Spanish rule, the underground Reformed church met in a secret synod at Antwerp to discuss their convictions and outline their beliefs. The assembly adopted the Belgic Confession, a Calvinistic creed written five years earlier in 1561, by Guido de Bres (1522-1567), who had been a fugitive preacher in the Lowlands. Drawing heavily from the writings of John Calvin (1509-1564), this confession was eagerly received by the Reformed churches of the Lowlands. The National Synod of the Netherlands adopted it following independence from Spain in 1619. The Belgic Confession is one of three standards of the Dutch Reformed Church, along with the Heidelberg Confession and the Canons of Dort.
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1568 THE BISHOP'S BIBLE IS PUBLISHED
In 1560, the Geneva Bible was produced by English Protestant exiles in Geneva, Switzerland. This English translation of the Bible quickly became the household version of English-speaking Protestants, yet it contained Reformed notes that were not acceptable to the leaders of the English church and state. In response, they produced their own version, in 1568, and called it the Bishop's Bible. The church intended that the Bishop's Bible would replace their Great Bible, which had had royal approval—and, indeed, the Bishop's Bible was an improved translation. However, it was not as good of a translation as the Geneva Bible, and as a result, the Bishop's Bible never gained popular approval, nor was it recognized formally by Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603).
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1569 PAPAL STATES EXPEL THE JEWS
Pope Pius V (1504-1572) was determined to combat heresy wherever he found it. This included not only Protestantism but Judaism as well. For commercial reasons he permitted some Jews to live in ghettos in Rome and in Ancona, Italy; but in 1569, he issued his Bull Hebraeorum Gens in which he expelled all other Jews from the Papal States, some of whose families had lived there from antiquity.
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1569-1572 ISAAC LURIA IS MAJOR INFLUENCE IN SAFED
A small town in the hills of Upper Galilee became a center for pious and mystical Jews. The town, Safed, hosted Jewish academies in the sixteenth century. Rabbi Isaac Luria (d. 1572), who lived in Safed and was known as the Ari, was a prophet of a new Jewish mysticism and became a major influence from 1569 to 1572. An immigrant from Cairo, Egypt, Luria explained Jewish sufferings as cosmic events related to the very nature of God. To Luria, Jewish rituals were a means for redeeming God himself and bringing in the messianic age. From Safed, his teaching spread throughout the Middle East, into Italy, and from there to the heart of Europe. Rituals and prayers devised by Luria are still found in Jewish prayer books today.
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1572 QUEEN MOTHER ORDERS ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE
While preparing for her daughter to marry the Protestant king of Navarre, Spain, Queen Mother Catherine de Medicis (1519-1589) of France also was plotting the assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572), a French war hero and Huguenot leader. The wedding brought thousands of Protestants to Paris on August 18, 1572. On August 22, the assassination attempt failed. With the failed attempt threatening to embarrass the royal family, twenty-two-year-old King Charles IX (1550-1574) angrily shouted to his mother that she should just kill all the Huguenots in France. Catherine responded to this spontaneous demand with an order for all the Huguenot leaders in the city to be executed. The gates of the city were closed so that no one could escape, and on August 24, 1572—St. Bartholomew's Day—thousands of Huguenot men, women, and children were viciously executed, beginning with Admiral Coligny.
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ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY
August 24, 1572
In Paris on August 18, 1572, hopes for peace existed between the warring Catholics and Protestants. On this day, a royal wedding between the Protestant King Henry of Navarre and the Catholic Margaret of Valois brought together the two hostile factions. Protestant and Catholic nobles who had fought each other for ten years turned out for the celebration. Thousands of Protestants came to Paris for the wedding, and the festivities lasted for days.
Calvinism had come to France in 1555. Soon there were two thousand French Reformed churches, and nearly half of the population had been won over to the Reformed faith. French Protestants became known as Huguenots.
While Catherine de Medicis, the Queen Mother, had been planning her daughter's wedding, she had also been plotting the assassination of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, who was a leader of the Huguenots.
On August 22, the assassination attempt failed. This ignominious plot so soon after the royal wedding threatened to embarrass the royal family. Near midnight the following night, the twenty-two-year-old French king, brother of the bride, in a fit of rage shouted to his mother, "If you are going to kill Coligny, why don't you kill all the Huguenots in France, so that there will be no one left to hate me."
Following this impetuous directive, Catherine ordered the murder of all the Huguenot leaders currently in Paris, including those who had attended the wedding. The massacre began on August 24, 1572, St. Bartholomew's Day. Admiral Coligny was murdered first as he knelt in prayer.
Many of the Huguenot nobles who were guests at the royal wedding were lodged at the Louvre. They were called into the courtyard and shot one by one as they appeared.
During the night, the homes of Paris Huguenots each had been marked with white crosses. Before daybreak, messengers were sent throughout the city screaming, "Kill! Kill! The King commands it." A murdering frenzy fell on the whole city. Entire Huguenot families were taken into the streets and murdered. The dawn of St. Bartholomew's Day revealed thousands of martyred Huguenots.
The craze spread to the provinces in the following days and weeks, and the death toll was probably in the range of thirty to forty thousand. Admiral Coligny's head was embalmed and sent to Rome as a gift to Pope Gregory XIII. When news of the massacre reached Rome (along with Coligny's head), the pope and his cardinals attended a mass of thanksgiving.
But the savagery was not without cost to the king. Charles IX soon began having nightmares about the massacre. In less than two years, he was dying at the age of only twenty-four. His last days were plagued with visions of his victims. "What bloodshed, what murders!" he cried to his nurse. "What evil counsel have I followed? O my God, forgive me!... I am lost!"
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1572-1573 PURITANS WRITE ADMONITIONS TO PARLIAMENT During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) in England, many Puritans found themselves becoming more and more estranged by the queen's religious policies. Unsatisfied with the episcopal government of the church and with various policies that appeared to be politically dictated, an anonymous tract titled "Admonition to Parliament" was printed in 1572. It was followed the next year by a second admonition. These complaints against church abuses and polity were written in hopes that Parliament would counter Elizabethan compromises by setting up a Presbyterian government in the church to be a better reflection of the continental Reformation. Controversy ensued, and Elizabeth effectively drove the movement underground. The admonitions, however, signaled a growing dissatisfaction in the rising Puritan movement, which would spread to the New World sixty years later.
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1576 THE TORGAU ARTICLES ATTEMPT TO SETTLE THEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
After the Augsburg Confession was written, there were still a number of theological disagreements among Lutherans. In an attempt to settle these differences in a Christian manner, German Lutheran theologians adopted the Torgau Articles, which were accepted by most Lutheran theologians.
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1577 FORMULA OF CONCORD ENDS LUTHERAN DOCTRINAL CONTROVERSIES
When the Torgau Articles were criticized as being too lengthy, six German Lutheran theologians led by Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) and James Andreae (1528-1590) met in 1577 to revise them. The resulting Formula of Concord ended the doctrinal controversies of German Lutheranism that had arisen after the death of Martin Luther (1483-1546). It had two parts: the Epitome and Declaration. The Epitome described each doctrinal controversy and the arguments on each side. The Declaration was entitled "Thorough, Pure, Correct, and Final (Solid, Plain, and Clear) Repetition and Declaration of Some Articles of the Augsburg Confession."
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1578 REFORMED AND ANABAPTIST LEADERS DEBATE PEACEABLY
Since the beginning of the Reformation, the debates between Anabaptists and their Reformed counterparts had been anything but peaceful. The Anabaptists renounced the close union between church and state that had been central to European governmental structures for more than a thousand years. They also rejected the practice of infant baptism. As a result, most Anabaptist leaders lived under threat of imprisonment or death from both Protestants and Catholics. However, in 1578, Anabaptist and Reformed leaders held a series of surprisingly peaceful debates. From February 27 until May 17, delegates from each side met in Emden, the Netherlands. The representatives debated topics such as the nature of the Trinity, the sin of mankind, sacramental theology, the resurrection, and the Christian's role in government and military service, thereby coming to a greater understanding of each other's positions.
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1582 RICCI BEGINS MISSIONS IN CHINA
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was the founder of modern-times Roman Catholic missions to China. The Italian Jesuit arrived at the Portuguese trading settlement of Macao on the coast of China in 1582, and began avidly studying Chinese language and culture. He gained admittance to China the following year, but encountered significant popular resistance. He gained acceptance by embracing Chinese dress, culture, and language—and because his maps, books, and mechanical instruments were of interest to the educated Chinese. Ricci eventually settled in Peking among the Chinese literati and never left, dying there in 1610. In Peking he made several influential converts, including some among high court officials, and the Catholic Church began to grow. He opposed Buddhism and Taoism, but embraced classical Confucianism, making him a controversial missionary figure.
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1587 MISSIONARIES ARE BANNED IN JAPAN
In 1549, the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier (1506-1552) arrived in Japan. During his first years in Japan, many people simply thought that he was establishing a new Buddhist sect. However, it soon became apparent that he was teaching something different. Thirty years after Xavier's arrival, Jesuit missionaries could claim 130,000 converts. In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598), the Japanese Napoleon, issued a decree that banned missionaries from Japan. His decree, however, was neither obeyed nor enforced. In 1596, Hideyoshi began a more proactive persecution of the missionaries, and the next year twenty-six Christians were crucified in Nagasaki. In 1614, Christianity was officially outlawed in Japan, and the seventeenth century was marked by extreme persecution of Japanese Catholics.
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A POWER STRUGGLE OR A HOLY WAR?
July 29, 1588
Why is England largely Protestant and not Catholic?
In 1558, Elizabeth I, a Protestant, succeeded her Roman Catholic half sister, Mary Tudor, as Queen of England. Mary had done everything she could to make England Catholic. On the other hand, the pragmatic Elizabeth adamantly opposed allowing the pope to rule her country.
England's archrival at the time was Spain, which was Catholic. The Spanish king Philip II was Europe's most powerful monarch. The pope, Emperor Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots all encouraged Philip to invade England to restore Catholicism.
Queen Elizabeth cleverly toyed with King Philip, letting him think she might marry him or his son. Meanwhile, English pirates under the direction of Frances Drake plundered Spanish merchant ships with Elizabeth's tacit approval.
At this time the Netherlands were in revolt against Spain. Queen Elizabeth knew that as long as Philip was fighting in the Netherlands, he was less likely to invade England. Therefore Elizabeth secretly helped the Dutch rebels.
Then Queen Elizabeth received a financial windfall. Spanish ships carrying the payroll for their troops in the Netherlands were driven into England's ports by English pirates. Philip kept his temper, and Elizabeth kept the money.
But when Queen Elizabeth imprisoned the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, Philip's patience ran out and he plotted to assassinate Elizabeth. When Elizabeth found out, she expelled the Spanish ambassador and began openly aiding the Netherlands. The lines were drawn. Both Elizabeth and Philip put all their resources into preparing for the war that would determine the mastery of the seas and the religion of England.
Queen Elizabeth assembled her fleet of thirty-four royal warships. In addition, she induced the owners of 170 merchant ships to equip their vessels with armaments to be available when needed. Meanwhile, Philip's Spanish Armada consisted of 130 ships, the most powerful navy the world had ever seen. On the morning the Armada sailed, every sailor took the Eucharist and all Spain prayed.
The battle's main action occurred off the coast of France. Shortly after midnight on July 28, Francis Drake set fire to several small boats and placed them in the wind to sail into the Spanish fleet. Panic seized the Spaniards as two ships caught fire and several of the largest became entangled with one another as they sought to escape the burning boats.
The coup de grace for the Spanish came on the following day, July 29, 1588. The wind carried the broken Armada off into the North Sea, where heavy winds wrecked many of the remaining ships off the coast of Ireland.
Of the 130 ships that left Spain, just fifty-three returned, and they were so badly damaged that they were worthless. Of the twenty-seven thousand men who left, ten thousand returned, most of them wounded or sick.
England lost just sixty men and not one ship and would remain Protestant.
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1588 THE SPANISH ARMADA IS DEFEATED
In 1588, King Philip II (1527-1598) of Spain sent the 130-ship Spanish Armada to invade England and overthrow Elizabeth I (1533-1603), the Protestant queen of England. Possessing the most powerful navy in the world, Philip felt sure of victory. Hundreds of monks accompanied the Armada to reestablish Catholicism in England. To defend Protestant England, Elizabeth conscripted 170 merchant ships to accompany her thirty-four Royal Navy ships. Terrible storms forced the Armada into harbors in France. Early on the morning of July 28, 1588, English Admiral Francis Drake (1540-1596) lit a few small boats on fire and used the wind to carry them to the Spanish fleet. At noon that day, as the fire spread to the Spanish ships, the English defeated the Armada.
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1589 MOSCOW BECOMES AN INDEPENDENT PATRIARCHATE During feudal times, the Russian Orthodox Church had been a stabilizing force in the life of the Russian people. In the fourteenth century, as the divided feudal kingdoms began to unite around Moscow, Orthodox bishops acted as counselors to the princes of Moscow. In the fifteenth century, as the Byzantine Empire collapsed, the Russian Orthodox Church became autonomous from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In 1589, Metropolitan Job (r. 1589-1605) was recognized as the first Russian patriarch, and the Moscow Patriarchate was established. The Eastern Orthodox bishops considered the Moscow Patriarchate to be the fifth-most-honored office in the Orthodox Church.
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1590 JEWS BEGIN TO IMMIGRATE TO THE LOW COUNTRIES
In 1579, the Low Countries freed themselves from Spanish rule and instituted freedom of religion. The following year Spain annexed Portugal, and the Portuguese Inquisition that had been lax became much more aggressive in searching out crypto-Jews, those who had accepted Christian baptism but secretly still were practicing Judaism. As a result, by 1590, a steady stream of Jews immigrated to Amsterdam. Throughout the seventeenth century Amsterdam prospered, largely as a result of the skills the Jews brought with them. Trained in medicine, law, politics, business, and religion, the Jewish population made Amsterdam known as "The Dutch Jerusalem."
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1598 EDICT OF NANTES SEEKS TO ENLARGE FRENCH PROTESTANT RIGHTS
Throughout sixteenth-century Europe, rulers proclaimed one religion for their region, and all subjects were expected to conform. The Edict of Nantes changed this practice in France. The edict was an agreement signed in 1598 between King Henry IV (1553-1610) of France and the French Protestant Huguenots after the formerly Protestant Henry converted to Catholicism in an effort to end the Wars of Religion. The Edict of Nantes enlarged the rights given to French Protestants to include civil equality, free exercise of religion, and fair administration of justice. This edict introduced the new concept of two religions tolerantly coexisting. King Louis XIV (1638-1715) revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
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