Church History Timeline First Century (1 A.D. 100 A.D.) 27 A.D. Pax Romana Roman Peace 30 A.D. Jesus Christ s baptism by John and beginning of public ministry 33 A.D. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ 33 A.D. Pentecost 34 A.D. The Conversion of St. Paul, apostle to the Gentiles 33-42 A.D. St. Stephen and St. James martyred 42 A.D. St. John the Apostle travels with the Blessed Virgin Mary to Ephesus 46 A.D. St. Paul begins the first of his three main missionary journeys 49 A.D. Council of Jerusalem 64 A.D. Persecution of Christians under Roman emperor Nero (Peter and Paul martyred) 70 A.D. Romans destroy the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem 80 A.D. Didache early Christian teachings of the apostles begins compilation 99 A.D. New Testament writings that will be part of the Gospel have been written have been completed by this date. Second through Fifth Centuries (101 A.D. 500 A.D.) 250 A.D. Persecutions under Roman emperor Decius 251 A.D. Council of Carthage 303 A.D. Persecutions under Roman emperor Diocletian 313 A.D. Emperor Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, allowing religious tolerance towards Christians. 325 A.D. Council of Nicaea (set for the Nicene Creed affirming that Jesus and the Father are consubstantial {of the same substance}). 330 A.D. Constantine divides the Roman Empire with Rome as the center of the West; Constantinople {present day Istanbul, Turkey} as the East center. 330 A.D. Saint Peter s Basilica is first constructed in Rome. 360 A.D. Books begin to replace scrolls. 382 A.D. Pope Damascus asks Saint Jerome to translate the Gospels into Latin. 397 A.D. Councils of Hippo and Carthage determine which books will become part of the New Testament. 382 A.D. Saint Jerome completes the translation of the Old Testament. 410 A.D. Barbarian invasion and the Visigoths destruction of the city of Rome. 431 A.D. Council of Ephesus (condemned heresy of two Persons in one body and declared that the Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God {Theotokos}). 432 A.D. Saint Patrick sets out to evangelize in Ireland. 451 A.D. Council of Chalcedon (declared that Christ is fully human and fully divine {hypostatic union}). 476 A.D. The collapse of the Western Empire. 480 A.D. Birth of Saint Benedict. 496 A.D. Clovis, the King of the Franks, converts to Catholicism.
Sixth through Eighth Centuries (501 A.D. 800 A.D.) 507 A.D. Clovis army drives the Visigoths out of France. 527 A.D. Justinian I becomes emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. 529 A.D. Saint Benedict founds Monte Cassino in France, the first monastery. 537 A.D. Construction of Hagia Sophia begins in Constantinople. 540 A.D. Pope Saint Gregory the Great born in Rome. 590 A.D. Pope Saint Gregory the Great is the first monk to be pope. 596 A.D. Pope Saint Gregory the Great sends St. Augustine of Canterbury to England to evangelize the Anglo Saxons. 632 A.D. Death of Mohammed, the founder of Islam. All of Arabia is Muslim. 637 A.D. Muslims attack Constantinople and capture Jerusalem (638 A.D.). 698 A.D. Muslims take Carthage. 711 A.D. Muslims invade and occupy Spain. 716 A.D. Saint Boniface leaves England to evangelize Germania. 732 A.D. France halts Muslim invasion. 754 A.D. The pope allies with Pepin, King of Franks, with the help of St. Boniface. 793 A.D. Vikings attack England. 800 A.D. Charlemagne is crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III. Ninth through Thirteenth Centuries (801 A.D. 1300 A.D.) 808 A.D. Gun powder is invented in China during Tang Dynasty. 885 A.D. Vikings attack Paris. 910 A.D. Cluny Monastery founded in France. 997 A.D. Muslims occupy Santiago de Compestela in Spain, the burial place of Saint James the Apostle. 1000 A.D. Muslims control two-thirds (2/3) of the Ancient Christian world. 1054 A.D. The Schism of 1054 Eastern and Western Schism 1073 A.D. Saint Gregory VII elected pope and excommunicates Emperor Henry IV 1088 A.D. First universities founded in Bologna, (Italy, 1088), Paris, (France, 1096), and Oxford, (England, 1096). 1094 A.D. The Byzantine emperor in Constantinople requests aid from the Western Empire to help aid against Muslim attacks. 1095 A.D. Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade to temporarily capture Jerusalem. 1122 A.D. Pope Callistus II and Emperor Henry VI sign Concordat of Worms 1144 A.D. The first Gothic cathedral, Basilica of St. Denis in Paris, completed. 1147 A.D. Second Crusade is called as a result of Muslims reconquering the region. 1192 A.D. Third Crusade under Richard the Lion-hearted and Emperor Frederick Babarossa ends in defeat. 1204 A.D. Crusaders from the Fourth Crusade sack Constantinople, creating further division between the East and West. 1209 A.D. The Franciscan Order is founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. 1216 A.D. The Dominican Order is founded by Saint Dominic. 1229 A.D. The Inquisition court is founded. 1265 A.D. Saint Thomas Aquinas writes Summa Theologica.
Fourteenth through Eighteenth Centuries (1301 A.D. 1800 A.D.) 1301 A.D. The Renaissance era begins. 1347 A.D. Bubonic Plague (Black Death) arrived in Europe. 1368 A.D. Saint Catherine of Sienna cares for the sick and dead. 1377 A.D. Saint Catherine of Sienna convinces the pope to return papacy from Avignon, France to Rome, Italy. 1417 A.D. The Council of Constance ends the Great Schism (Antipopes of Avignon/ and Pisa) with the election of Martin V. 1440 A.D. The printing press is invented. 1453 A.D. Muslims conquer Constantinople and convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque. 1492 A.D. Explorer Christopher Columbus reaches the Americas. 1513 A.D. Ponce de León of Spain found St. Augustine, Florida the oldest city in the United States. 1517 A.D. Martin Luther presents his 95 theses of abuses in the Catholic Church. 1520 A.D. Luther denies the authority of the pope to interpret Sacred Scripture. 1521 A.D. Luther is excommunicated. 1526 A.D. Franciscan missionaries arrive in what is now Florida. 1534 A.D. Saint Ignatius of Loyola founds the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). 1534 A.D. King Henry VIII of England breaks from the Catholic Church. 1535 A.D. Saint Thomas More is beheaded by King Henry VIII. 1536 A.D. Henry VIII dissolves monasteries and convents in Ireland and England. 1541 A.D. First Franciscan explores what is now known as California. 1545 A.D. The Council of Trent begins. 1549 A.D. Jesuit missionaries arrive in the Far East. 1562 A.D. Saint Teresa of Avila founds Discalced Carmelite convents in Spain. 1563 A.D. The Council of Trent reconvenes and closes. 1611 A.D. The King James Bible becomes the Bible of the Church of England. 1611 A.D. Peter Claver arrives in Colombia. 1622 A.D. The Mayflower sets sail from England to North America. 1634 A.D. The Colony of Maryland is established. 1689 A.D. England overthrows its Catholic king and bans future Catholic monarchs. 1704 A.D. Maryland outlaws the public practice of Catholicism in the colony. 1776 A.D. British colonies in North America declare their independence. 1789 A.D. The French Revolution begins. 1789 A.D. The United States Constitution prevents religious tests for national office. 1791 A.D. The First Amendment protects free religious exercise in the U.S.; prevents the establishment of a national religion.
Nineteenth Centuries Century to today (1801 A.D. present.) 1848 A.D. Karl Marx writes the Communist Manifesto. 1861 A.D. Civil War begins. (1865 A.D. Civil War ends). 1866 A.D. Archbishop Spalding makes a plea to evangelize emancipated slaves. 1868 A.D. Ecumenical Council at the Vatican (now known as Vatican I Council). 1880 A.D. American workers form the Knights of Labor union. 1891 A.D. Pope Leo XIII writes the encyclical, Rerum Novarum. 1895 A.D. Pope Leo XIII warns American Catholics not to turn the Catholic Church into a different form of Catholicism. 1903 A.D. Bolshevik Party formed in Russia. 1908 A.D. Rome officially recognized that the Church in the United States was no longer a missionary church in need of converting. 1914 A.D. The beginning of World War I. 1917 A.D. Three children in Fatima, Portugal are granted visions of Mary. 1917 A.D. Mexico outlaws Catholicism. 1920 A.D. The emergence of the Ku Klux Klan political force. 1922 A.D. The Soviet Union is formed. 1926 A.D. The first Catholic bishops in China are ordained. 1926 A.D. Servant of God Dorothy Day converts to Catholicism. 1927 A.D. Blessed Miguel Pro is killed by the government. 1928 A.D. Catholic Alfred E. Smith, governor of New York loses to Herbert Hoover when running for the Democratic Party for President. 1930 A.D. Father Charles Coughlin uses radio as a political media until forced off air. 1933 A.D. Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany; first Nazi concentration camp is opened. 1933 A.D. Pope Pius XI tries to obtain rights for the Church in Nazi Germany with a concordat (treaty) with the Third Reich.. 1939 A.D. World War II begins. 1940 A.D. Communist governments begin persecutions and mass murder across Europe. 1941 A.D. Maximilian Kolbe is killed by the Nazis in Auschwitz. 1945 A.D. Word War II ends. 1945 A.D. Albania declares itself an atheist country and forbids religious practice 1948 A.D. Communist dictator Joseph Stalin forces Ukrainian Catholic Church to become part of the Orthodox Church and exiles Catholic bishops to Siberia. 1949 A.D. Communist China expels all foreign missionaries and represses church. 1952 A.D. Bishop Fulton Sheen uses television as a media to evangelize Catholics. 1959 A.D. Pope St. John XXIII calls for a Church Council. 1962 A.D. Second Ecumenical Council begins (known as Vatican II Council). 1973 A.D. U.S. Supreme Court rules the Constitution protects the right to abortion. 1979 A.D. Mother Teresa of Calcutta awarded Peace Prize. 1981 A.D. Pope St. John Paul II survives and assassination attempt ordered by the KGB (Soviet Union intelligence agency).
1989 A.D. The Fall of the Soviet Union. 2012 A.D. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. 2013 A.D. Pope Benedict XVI resigns his papal office and Pope Francis becomes the first Latin American and the first Jesuit to be elected Pope. 2015 A.D. Oscar Romero, the assassinated bishop of San Salvador is beatified. 2016 A.D. Jacques Hamel, a priest in France, is murdered by two ISIS extremists. 2017 A.D. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, of Fatima, Portugal, are canonized. 2018 A.D. Paul VI, Romero and four others added to canon of saints on 10/14/18. Future Church History 2019 A.D. Class of 2019 St. Gregory the Great Catholic School students graduate 2021 A.D. Class of 2019 SGGCS students receive the Sacrament of Confirmation???? A.D. Where do you see yourself in Church History?