c. 30
Death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ; birth of the
Catholic Church
c. 46—60
Apostle Paul’s journeys; local churches established throughout the
Mediterranean region
c. 65
Apostles Peter and Paul are both martyred and buried in Rome
66—70
Jewish War, ending with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple
95
First Letter of Clement is written; earliest preserved example of the bishop
of Rome giving pastoral guidance to a local church (in this case, Corinth)
far from Rome
c. 100
John, the last living apostle, dies near Ephesus; Clement, fourth bishop of
Rome, is martyred
early 2nd c.
Didache composed in region of Syria; a church document which includes
an early catechism as well as liturgical and organizational instructions
2nd c.
Montanus, Prisca and Maximilla start a breakaway sect in Asia Minor;
comes to be known as Montanism – an early heresy
100—165
Justin Martyr, early Christian teacher and apologist in Rome
130
Jerusalem is re-founded by Hadrian as a Gentile city called “Aelia
Capitolina”, pagan shrines are built on top of Jewish and Christian ones in
effort to destroy them but, instead, help to mark and preserve them
160—225
Tertullian, early and important Christian apologist in North Africa
185—249
Origen, early Christian apologist and Scripture scholar in Egypt
251—356
Antony of Egypt, known as the father of monasticism
303—306
Diocletian Persecution (i.e. the Great Persecution) of the Church
306
Constantine (the Great) begins in rule in the Western Roman Empire
311
Schism in the Church in North Africa begins with the new rival “Donatist”
church teaching that sacraments conferred by “traditores” are invalid;
Donatism lasts in parts of North Africa until the Islamic conquest in 7th c.
313
Edict of Milan recognizes Christianity as a legal religion in the Roman Empire
318
Arius, a priest in Alexandria, teaches that Christ is not consubstantial or
coeternal with God the Father; this view, Arianism, threatens to split the
Church and persists, in some parts of Western Europe, until the 8th c.
325
Council of Nicaea called by Constantine; first ecumenical (i.e. worldwide)
Church council – it condemns Arianism as an innovation and a heresy
and reaffirms the traditional preeminence given to the bishops of Rome,
Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem (the patriarchs)
330
Constantine consecrates his new city, Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul,
Turkey), to be the “New Rome” and the new capital of the Roman Empire
347—420
Jerome, an apologist, monk and Scripture scholar; completes his revision
of the Latin Scriptures in 405
354—430
Augustine of Hippo, convert, bishop and perhaps the greatest Western
theologian
381
Council of Constantinople called by Emperor Theodusius I to revisit the
Arian controversy; the council produces a creed (a concise statement of
beliefs) now often called the “Nicene Creed” and adds the bishop of
Constantinople to the list of patriarchs
c. 387—493
Patrick, former British slave, bishop and apostle to the Irish
410
Rome is sacked by Alaric and the Goths, an Arian Germanic tribe
428
Nestorius becomes archbishop of Constantinople, teaches that no union
of human and divine was possible in Christ (Nestorianism)
431
Council of Ephesus condemns Nestorianism and declares that Mary is
rightly addressed as Theotokos (God-bearer); Assyrian Church of the
East was not represented at this council, having declared their
independence from the authority of Rome and Constantinople back in
424, so this council is seen as birth of the first large-scale schism in the
Church history
451
Council of Chalcedon condemns Monophysitism, the teaching that
Christ’s divine nature overtook his human nature; Oriental Orthodox
churches (churches in Armenia, Egypt, Ethiopia and parts of Syria and
India) do not accept this council, creating the second large-scale schism
455
Rome is sacked by the Vandals, another Arian Germanic tribe
c. 480—550
Benedict of Nursia, father of Western monasticism
496
Clovis, King of the Franks, converts to Catholic Christianity and brings his
entire kingdom with him
c. 540—604
Pope Gregory (the Great), a former monk, re-energizes the missionary
efforts of the Church among the pagan tribes of Northern Europe
632
Mohammed, founder of Islam, dies in Medina
642
Egypt and all of Christian North Africa fall to the Muslims
711
Muslim armies conquer Spain and the Iberian Peninsula
718
Boniface is given commission to evangelize the Germans
726
Iconoclasm (destruction of sacred images) takes hold in the Christian East
732
Advance of Muslim armies in Western Europe is halted by Charles Martel
at the Battle of Tours (in modern-day France)
787
Second Council of Nicaea condemns Iconoclasm and reaffirms the
ancient tradition of using sacred images within the Church
800
Charlemagne is crowned “Roman Emperor” by Pope Leo III in St. Peter’s
Basilica at Rome
863
Cyril and Methodius are sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to
evangelize the Slavs in Eastern Europe
988
Vladimir (the Great), Grand Prince of the Rus (aka Russians) converts to
Christianity along with his entire kingdom
1095
Pope Urban II preaches the first Crusade, urging knights from across
Europe to assist the Eastern Christians in Constantinople, to recapture
Jerusalem and to protect Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land
1099
Crusaders re-capture Jerusalem from the Muslims, establish “Latin
Kingdom of Jerusalem”
Knights Hospitallers founded as the first monastic order of armed knights
1182
Maronite Church, isolated from other Christians in the mountains of
Lebanon since the Muslim invasion of 638, re-establishes contact with the
Catholic Church and re-affirms its unbroken communion with Rome
Early 13th c.
Francis and Dominic found respective religious orders of mendicant friars
who are not confined to monasteries but serve “in the world”
Mid 13th c.
The first universities are founded across Europe
1305—1378
Avignon Papacy (aka Babylonian Captivity): a time in which French
monarchs held considerable power over the office of the papacy and a
series of popes lived not in Rome but in Avignon in present-day France
1378—1417
Western Schism begins when Pope Gregory XI returns to papacy to
Rome and soon finds the Church divided between two and, at times,
three, claimants to the papacy
1453
Constantinople, last Christian holdout in the East, falls to Muslim armies
1492
Columbus discovers the New World
Reconquista is completed as the last Muslim stronghold in Spain is finally
recaptured by Christians