Events in Christian History

Year 64
A great fire ravages Rome. Emperor Nero blames Christians and unleashes persecution.

Year 70
Titus destroys Jerusalem and its temple. The separation between Christianity and Judaism deepens

Year 405
The Latin " Vulgate " version of the Bible is completed; it would become the standard for the next one thousand years.

Year 529
Benedict of Nursia establishes his monastic order. His "rule" becomes the most influential for centuries of monasticism in the West.

Year 664
Synod of Whitby determines that the English church will come under the authority of Rome.

Year 988
Vladimir, the Prince of Kiev is converted. After examining several religions, he chooses Orthodoxy to unify and guide the Russian people.

About 1150
Universities of Paris and Oxford are founded and become incubators for Renaissance and Reformation and precursors for modern educational patterns.

Year 1206
Francis D'Assisi renounces wealth and goes on to lead a band of poor friars preaching the simple life.

Year 1215
The Fourth Lateran Council deals with heresy, reaffirms Roman Catholic doctrines and strengthens the authority of the popes.

Year 1273
Thomas Aquinas completes work on "Summa Theoligica" -the theological masterpiece of the Middle Ages.

Year 1456
Jhonn Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, and his press becomes a means for disseminating new ideas and changes in politics and theology.

Year 1478
The Spanish Inquisition is established under king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to oppose "heresy".

Year 1512
Michelangelo completes his notable artwork on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome.

Year 1517
Martin Luther posts his ninety-five theses, a simple invitation for scholarly debate that inadvertently becomes a "hinge of history".

Year 1525
The Anabaptist movement begins. This "radical reformation" insists on baptism of adult believers and the almost unheard of notion of separation of church and state.

Year 1534
The Act of Supremacy of Henry 8th makes the king, not the pope, head of the Church of England.