Timeline of Christianity - Middle Ages

Middle Ages

• 800 King Charlemagne of the Franks is crowned first Holy Roman Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III.
• 849-865 Ansgar, Archbishop of Bremen, "Apostle of the North", began evangelisation of North Germany, Denmark, Sweden
• 855 Antipope Anastasius, Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor appointed him over Pope Benedict III but popular pressure caused withdrawal
• 863 Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius sent by the Patriarch of Constantinople to evangelise the Slavic peoples. They translate the Bible into Slavonic.
• 869-870 Catholic Fourth Council of Constantinople, condemned Patriarch Photius, rejected by Orthodox
• 879-880 Orthodox Fourth Council of Constantinople, restored Photius, condemned Pope Nicholas I and Filioque, rejected by Catholics
• 897,January Cadaver Synod, Pope Stephen VI conducts trial against dead Pope Formosus, public uprising against Stephen led to his imprisonment and strangulation
• 909 Abbey of Cluny, Benedictine monastery in France
• 966 Mieszko I duke of Poland baptised, Poland becomes a Christian country.
• 984 Antipope Boniface VII, murdered Pope John XIV, alleged to have murdered Pope Benedict VI in 974
• 988? Christianization of Kievan Rus'
• 991 Archbishop Arnulf of Rheims accuses Pope John XV of being the Antichrist
• 997-998 Antipope John XVI, deposed by Pope Gregory V and his cousin Holy Roman Emperor Otto III
• 1001 Byzantine emperor Basil II and Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah execute a treaty guaranteeing the protection of Christian pilgrimage routes in the Middle East
• 1009 Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the tomb of Jesus in Jeruselem, and then rebuilds it to its current state.
• 1012 Antipope Gregory VI, removed by Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1030 Battle of Stiklestad, considered victory of Christianity over Norwegian Paganism
• 1045 Sigfrid of Sweden, Benedictine evangelist
• 1046 Council of Sutri, Pope Sylvester III exiled, Pope Gregory VI admitted to buying the papacy and resigned, Pope Benedict IX resigned, council appointed Pope Clement II
• 1054 East-West Schism split between Eastern (Orthodox Christianity) and Western (Roman Catholic) churches formalized
• 1058-1059 Antipope Benedict X, defeated in war with Pope Nicholas II and Normans
• 1061-1064 Antipope Honorius II rival of Pope Alexander II
• 1065 Westminster Abbey consecrated
• 1073-1085 Pope Gregory VII, Investiture Controversy with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, proponent of Clerical celibacy, opponent of simony, concubinage, Antipope Clement III
• 1079 Stanislaus of Szczepanów, patron saint of Poland
• 1080 Hospital of Saint John the Baptist founded in Jeruselem by merchants from Amalfi and Salerno - serves as the foundation for the Knights Hospitaller
• 1082 Engelberg Abbey of Switzerland
• 1093-1109 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man), a landmark exploration of the Atonement
• 1095-1291 10 Crusades, first called by Pope Urban II at Council of Clermont against Islamic empire to reconquer the Holy Land for Christendom
• 1098 Foundation of the reforming monastery of Cîteaux, leads to the growth of the Cistercian order.
• 1101 Antipope Theodoric and Antipope Adalbert deposed by Pope Paschal II
• 1113 Knights Hospitaller confirmed by Papal bull of Pope Paschal II, listing Blessed Gerard (Gerard Thom) as founder, (a.k.a. Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and Chevaliers of Malta)
• 1118 Knights Templar founded, to defend Holy Land
• 1123 Catholic First Lateran Council
• 1124 Conversion of Pomerania - first mission of Otto of Bamberg
• 1128 Holyrood Abbey in Scotland
• 1128 Conversion of Pomerania - second mission of Otto of Bamberg
• 1130 Peter of Bruys, burned at the stake
• 1131 Tintern Abbey in Wales
• 1131-1138 Antipope Anacletus II
• 1139 Catholic Second Lateran Council
• 1140? Decretum Gratiani, Catholic Canon law
• 1142 Peter Abélard, Letters of Abelard and Heloise
• 1144 The Saint Denis Basilica of Abbot Suger is the first major building in the style of Gothic architecture.
• 1154-1159 Pope Adrian IV, first (and to date only) English pope
• 1155 Theotokos of Vladimir arrives to Bogolyubovo
• 1155 Carmelites founded
• 1163 Notre Dame de Paris, construction begun
• 1168 Conversion of Pomerania - Principality of Rugia missioned by Absalon
• 1173 Waldensians founded
• 1179 Catholic Third Lateran Council
• 1191 Teutonic Knights founded
• 1204-1261 Latin Empire of Constantinople
• 1205 Saint Francis of Assisi becomes a hermit, founding the Franciscan order of friars, renounces wealth and begins his ministry;
• 1208 Start of the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars
• 1214 Rosary is reportedly given to St. Dominic (who founded Dominican Order) by an apparition of Mary
• 1215 Catholic Fourth Lateran Council, decreed special dress for Jews and Muslims, and declared Waldensians, founded by Peter Waldo, as heretics. One of the goals was the elimination of the heresy of the Cathars.
• 1219 Francis of Assisi crosses enemy lines during the Fifth Crusade to speak to Sultan al-Kamil; ends with a meal. James of Vitry writes that Muslim soldiers returned Francis and another friar, Illuminato, "with signs of honor."
• 1220-1263 St Alexander Nevsky, holy patron of Russia
• 1231 Charter of the University of Paris granted by Pope Gregory IX.
• 1241 Pope Gregory IX denounced as Antichrist by Eberhard II von Truchsees, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg at the Council of Regensburg
• 1245 Catholic First Council of Lyon
• 1252 May 15, Ad exstirpanda, Pope Innocent IV authorized use of torture in Inquisitions
• 1260 Date which a 1988 Vatican sponsored scientific study places the origin of the Shroud of Turin
• 1263 July 20–24, The Disputation of Barcelona was held at the royal palace of King James I of Aragon in the presence of the King, his court, and many prominent ecclesiastical dignitaries and knights, between a convert from Judaism to Christianity Dominican Friar Pablo Christiani and Rabbi Nachmanides
• 1274 Summa Theologiae, written by Thomas Aquinas, theologian and philosopher, landmark systematic theology which later became official Catholic doctrine
• 1274 Catholic Second Council of Lyon