| Name of Person or Event |
Dates |
Importance |
| Edict of Toleration |
311 |
End of persecution of Christians |
| Edict of Milan |
313 |
End of persecution of Christians |
| Council of Nicea |
325 |
First Ecumenical Council; condemned Arius and affirmed the doctrine of homoousia |
| Council of Constantinople |
381 |
Second Ecumenical Council; affirmed divinity of the Holy Spirit |
| Rome invaded by Visigoths |
410 |
End of Western Roman Empire |
| Odoacer splits with Constantinople |
476 |
End of Western Roman Empire |
| Council of Ephesus |
431 |
Third Ecumenical Council; condemned Nestorius and affirmed Mary as theotokos |
| Council of Chalcedon |
451 |
Fourth Ecumenical Council; affirmed the two natures of Christ |
| Mohammed flees to Medina |
622 |
Beginning of the Islamic calendar |
| Mohammed takes Mecca |
630 |
Beginning of the Islamic advance |
| Battle of Tours |
732 |
Muslims finally halted in Europe |
| Founding of Cluny |
909 |
Began a significant period of monastic reform. |
| Conversion of Olga |
950 |
Beginnings of Christianity in Russia |
| Great Schism |
1054 |
Split between East and West in the Church |
| Jerusalem conquered |
1099 |
Beginning of Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem |
| Fall of Jerusalem |
1187 |
End of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem |
| Last Crusader defeat |
1291 |
End of the Crusades |
| Avignon Papacy |
1309-1377 |
Called “Babylonian Captivity of the Church”; weakened papacy |
| “The Black Death” |
1347-1351 |
Virulent plague that wiped out 30%-60% of Europe’s population |
| Great Western Schism |
1378-1423 |
Period of multiple Popes, weakened papacy |
| Fall of Constantinople |
1453 |
End of Byzantine Empire |
| Columbus in America |
1492 |
Beginning of colonization of America |
| Nero |
↔54-68 |
First Emperor to persecute Christians; committed suicide after being deposed |
| Domitian |
↔81-96 |
Persecuted Christians in order to restore Roman traditions; was murdered in his own palace |
| Clement of Rome |
c.100 |
Second or third bishop of Rome; wrote Epistle to the Corinthians |
| Ignatius |
30/35-107 |
Martyred bishop of Antioch; wrote seven letters on the way to martyrdom |
| Trajan |
↔98-117 |
Emperor whose establishes the policy for Christian persecution in the Roman Empire |
| Marcion |
fl. 144-150 |
Early Christian heretic; denied authority of Old Testament and compiled the first list of books for a “New Testament” |
| Polycarp |
†156 |
Disciple of John; most famous early Christian martyr |
| Justin (Martyr) |
†165 |
Christian apologist and martyr; wrote two Apologies and Dialogue with Trypho |
| Irenaeus |
c.130-late 100s |
Disciple of Polycarp; early theologian who wrote Against Heresies and Demonstration of Apostolic Faith |
| Perpetua and Felicitas |
†203 |
A well-to-do woman and her slave who were executed for being Christian, most famous early women martyrs |
| Clement of Alexandria |
†215 |
Alexandrine theologian highly influenced by Neo-Platonism; wrote Exhortation to the Pagans |
| Tertullian |
fl. 195-220 |
Early and influential North African theologian, wrote Prescription Against the Heretics |
| Origen |
c.180-251 |
Disciple of Clement; wrote De Principiis, the first Christian systematic theology |
| Septimius Severus |
↔193-211 |
Emperor who persecuted Christians since they would not worship Sol Invictus |
| Decius |
↔249-251 |
Emperor who persecuted Christians to restore the favor of the old Roman gods. |
| Cyprian |
c.205-258 |
Influential Bishop of Carthage; wrote Concerning the Lapsed and The Unity of the Church |
| Diocletian |
↔284-305 |
Emperor who initiated the last great persecution of Christians in the Early Church. |
| Helena |
c.250-330 |
Mother of Constantine, established many models of early Christian “piety”. |
| Constantine |
↔306-337 |
Emperor who reunited empire and made Christianity legal; moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople |
| Eusebius of Caesarea |
262-340 |
Wrote Ecclesiastical History; sought to moderate in the Arian controversy |
| Athanasius |
c.295-373 |
Defender of Nicean orthodoxy; wrote Discourses Against the Arians and Life of St. Anthony |
| Basil the Great |
330-379 |
Cappadocian theologian who defended Nicene Orthodoxy; father of Eastern monasticism |
| Macrina |
†380 |
Sister to Basil the Great, who started her brother on his monastic pursuits |
| Gregory of Nazianzus |
330-389 |
Cappadocian theologian and Patriarch of Constantinople; wrote De Vita Sua and Five Theological Orations |
| Gregory of Nyssa |
335-394? |
Cappadocian theologian; father of Christian Mysticism; wrote Ascent of Moses |
| Martin of Tours |
335-397 |
influential early monastic bishop |
| Ambrose |
†397 |
Bishop of Milan who influenced Augustine; wrote On Faith and On the Holy Spirit |
| John Chrysostom |
c.350-407 |
Famous Preacher, whose name means “Golden Mouth”; became Patriarch of Constantinople in 398 |
| Jerome |
347-420 |
Translated the Bible into Latin (Vulgate) |
| Augustine |
354-430 |
Most influential theologian of the Early Church; wrote Confessions and City of God |
| Leo I, the Great |
↔440-461 |
First true “Pope”; wrote Tome to address the Council of Chalcedon |
| Nestorius |
381-440 |
Promoted the idea that Christ’s two natures were not united; wrote Bazaar of Heraclides |
| Benedict of Nursia |
c.480-c.547 |
Wrote a Rule which became the standard for Western Monasticism |
| Gregory I, The Great |
540-604 |
Able Pope who establishes the direction of the Western church for the Middle Ages |
| Patrick |
373-463(?) |
Missionary to Ireland, helped to establish a strong “non-Roman” version of Christianity. |
| Isidore of Seville |
†636 |
Wrote Etymologies, an early encyclopedia |
| Charlemagne |
↔800-814 |
First Holy Roman Emperor; initiated much Church reform |
| Anselm of Canterbury |
fl. 1060-1100 |
Forerunner of Scholasticism; crafted the Ontological Proof for the Existence of God; wrote Cur Deus Homo |
| Peter Abelard |
1079-1142 |
Forerunner of Scholasticism; clashed with Bernard of Clairvaux; wrote Sic et Non (Yes and No) |
| Bernard of Clairvaux |
1090-1153 |
Cistercian abbot, influential mystical thinker, and founder of the monastery at Clairvaux |
| Peter Lombard |
†1160 |
Wrote Quatuor Libri Sentiarum (Four Books of Sentences), the standard medieval theology text |
| Hildegard von Bingen |
1098-1179 |
Influential female abbess, mystic and composer. |
| Innocent III |
↔1198-1216 |
Most powerful pope in history; called the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) |
| Dominic |
†1221 |
Founder of the Order of Preachers |
| Francis of Assisi |
†1226 |
Founder of the Order of Friars Minor |
| Thomas Aquinas |
1224-1274 |
Most influential theologian in the Roman Catholic Church; wrote Summa Theologica |
| Meister Eckhart |
c.1260-c.1327 |
Rhineland mystic; talked about the “spark of the divine” in the soul |
| John Duns Scotus |
1265/6-1308 |
Advocated the divorce of faith and reason; called the “Subtle Doctor” |
| William of Occam |
c. 1280-1349 |
Advocated the divorce of faith and reason; developed “Ockham’s Razor”; influenced Martin Luther |
| Jan van Ruusbroec |
1293-1381 |
Flemish mystic; wrote The Spiritual Espousals |
| John Wycliffe |
†1384 |
Early reformer who denied transubstantiation and advocated for Scriptures for the masses |
| John Hus |
†1415 |
Early reformer who denied power of the Pope and was executed by the Council of Constance |
| Savonarola |
1457-1498 |
Early reformer who preached against abuses in the church and was executed for “heresy” |
| Destruction of the Temple |
70 |
End of “Sadducean” Judaism, beginning of “Rabbinic” Judaism |
CADD 2 Honors
