Jesus to AD 500

Pax Romana

Period:

-27 BCE

to

180

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

33

Pentecost

33

The Apostles spread the Gospel

33

St Stephen martyred

33

the Conversion of St. Paul

34

St. John the Apostle travels to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin Mary

42

John 19:25-27 tells of how, from the Cross, Jesus charged St. John with the care of his mother.

St. Paul begins missionary journeys to Galatia, Greece, Syria, and other places.

46

Council of Jerusalem

49

Persecution of Christians begins under new Roman emperor Nero.

64

Romans burn the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem

70

Didache written

80

All the writings that will become part of the New Testament have been written by this date.

99

AD 100-500

Period:

100

to

500

Persecution under Roman emperor Decius

250

Decius required all too worship the gods of state, or be tortured and killed.

Council of Carthage

251

This council allowed people who lapsed in their faith during the persecution to be brought back into the Church after a period of penance.

Persecution under Roman emperor Diocletian

303

Diocletian ordered the destruction of all Christian Churches, imprisonment of bishops and priests, and the execution of all who refused to participate in the public worship of pagan gods.

Emperor Constantine issues the Edict of Milan

313

This edict granted religious toleration to Christians and unleashed the spread of Christianity.

Council of Nicaea

325

This council, called by Emperor Constantine, set forth the Nicene Creed and affirmed that Jesus and the Father are consubstantial - of the same substance.

Emperor Constantine divides the Roman Empire into East and West

330

The West was centered in Rome, and the East was centered in Constantinople.

Construction of the first St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

330

Birth of St. Augustine

354

Books begin to replace scrolls

360

Pope Damascus asks St. Jerome to translate the Gospels into Latin.

382

The Councils of Hippo and Carthage determine which books will become part of the New Testament

397

St. Jerome completes his translation of the Old Testament.

405

The Visigoths destroy the city of Rome

410

St. Augustine begins writing The City of God.

410

Council of Ephesus

431

This council condemned a heresy that said Jesus was two persons in one body, and the council declared that the Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God.

St. Patrick sets out to spread the Gospel in Ireland

432

Birth of St. Benedict

480

AD 500-1000

Period:

500

to

1000

Clovis' army drives Visigoths out of France

507

Justinian I becomes emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire

527

St. Benedict founds the first monastery

529

St. Benedict founds his first monastery.

529

Construction of Hagia Sophia (current structure) begins in Constantinople.

537

St. Gregory the Great becomes pope

590

Pope St. Gregory the Great sends St. Augustine of Canterbury to England to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons.

596

St. Augustine baptizes the King of Kent

597

Death of Mohammad

632

Mohammad, whom Muslims call the Prophet Mohammad, is the founder of Islam. By the time of his death, all of Arabia is Muslim.

Muslims attack Constantinople

637

Muslims capture Jerusalem

638

Muslims take Carthage

698

End of Eastern Roman rule in North Africa.

Muslims invade and occupy Spain

711

St. Boniface leaves England to evangelize Germania

716

France halts Muslims invasion

732

With St. Boniface's help, the pope allies with the kings of the Franks

754

Vikings attack England

793

Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III.

800

Eastern Christians in Constantinople did not approve of Charlemagne's coronation, and the new title bestowed by the pope caused further division between East and West.

Gunpowder invented

800

Vikings attack Paris

885

Muslims occupy Santiago de Compostela in Spain, burial place of St. James the Apostle.

997

Muslims control two thirds of the ancient Christian world

1000

The Great Schism

1054

St. Gregory VII elected pope

1073

Pope St. Gregory VII excommunicates the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV

1073

First universities founded

1088

The Byzantine emperor in Constantinople asks the West for aid against Muslim armies

1094

Pope Urban II calls for a Crusade, and Christians temporarily capture Jerusalem

1095

Second Crusade

1142

First Gothic cathedral completed

1144

Third Crusade

1192

Crusaders from the Fourth Crusade sack Constantinople

1204

Franciscan Order is founded by St. Francis of Assi

1209

Dominican Order founded by St. Dominic

1216

The Inquisition is founded

1229

St. Thomas Aquinas writes the Summa Theologica

1265

The Renaissance begins

1300

Bubonic plague arrives in Europe

1347

St. Catherine of Siena convinces the pope to return the papacy to Rome

1377

St. Catherine of Siena cares for the sick and buries the dead when the plague strikes Siena.

1386

Muslims conquer Constantinople and turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque

1453

Christopher Coloumbus reaches the Americas

1492