THE FIRST TWENTY-ONE CENTURIES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

1-100 A.D. 101-200 201-300 301-400 401-500

• Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, Luke 1:26-38 (circa 1 B.C.) • Saint Ignatius of Antioch • Martyrdom of Sts. Perpetua, • Martyrdom of St. Agnes (c. 304) • Death of Saint John
• Nativity of OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, Luke 2:7 (c. 1 A.D.) writes of Christ’s Divinity, Felicitas, and companions; • Edict of Milan: legalization Chrysostom in exile (407)
• Baptism of Christ, Matthew 3:13-17 (c. 30) His Real Presence in the Perpetua records vision of of Christianity (313) • Visigoths sack Rome (410)
• Start of Christ’s earthly ministry, John 2:1-11 (c. 30) Eucharist, and Church purgatory, Martyrdom of • Council of Nicaea defines • Council of Ephesus defines
• Christ gives “the keys” to Saint Peter, Matthew 16:18-19 (c. 32) hierarchy—first recorded Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas dogma of the Divinity of
dogma of Mary’s Divine
• Last Supper, Matthew 26:26-28 (Holy Thursday, c. 33) use of title “Catholic (203) Christ (325)
• Crucifixion and death of Christ, Luke 23:33 (Good Friday) Church,” Letters (c. 107) • Tertullian becomes • Saint Helena recovers the Maternity (“Mother of
• Resurrection of Christ, Luke 24:1-7 (Easter Sunday) • Pope Saint Pius I condemns a heretic (c. 211) True Cross (c. 327) God”), affirming the
• Ascension of Christ, Acts of the Apostles 1:9 (40 days after Easter) Marcion (c. 144) • St. Hippolytus describes • Emperor Constantine moves Divinity of Christ (431)
• Pentecost, “birthday” of the Church, Acts 2:1-4 (10 days later) • Saint Justin the Martyr priestly ordination and capital to Byzantium (330) • Mission of Saint Patrick to
• Stoning of Saint Stephen, first Christian martyr, Acts 7:58 (c. 34) writes of the Trinity and Infant Baptism, Apostolic • Saint Athanasius restored as Ireland (432)
• Conversion of Saint Paul, Acts 9:1-22 (c. 34) baptismal rebirth, First Tradition; calls Mary Bishop of Alexandria (366) • Council of Chalcedon
• Believers first called “Christians” at Antioch, Acts 11:26 (c. 42) Apology; the Eucharistic spotless God-bearer, • Saint Basil the Great, Basileias,
Sacrifice and Mary as New world’s first hospital (373) defines dogma of the Two
• Composition of the books of the New Testament (c. 45-100) Eve, Dialogue (c. 150) End of the World (c. 215) • Council of Constantinople Perfect Natures in Christ
• Council of Jerusalem, Acts 15 (c. 49) • Martyrdom of • Mary appears to St. Gregory defines dogma of the Divinity (divine and human) (451)
• Assumption of Mary into heaven, Revelation 12:1, 5-6, 14 (c. 49) Saint Polycarp (c. 156) Thaumaturgos (c. 243) of the Holy Spirit (381) • Pope Saint Leo the Great
• Martyrdom of Peter and Paul in Rome under Emperor Nero (c. 67) • Saint Irenaeus writes of the • Sub Tuum Praesidium, • Council of Rome declares dissuades Attila the Hun
• Saint Linus succeeds Peter as Bishop of Rome (i.e., Pope) (c. 67) Trinity, Real Presence, first recorded prayer Canon of the Bible under
• Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by General Titus (70) to Mary (c. 250) from sacking Rome (452)
Mary as New Eve, and Pope St. Damasus I (382) • Fall of Roman Empire (476)
• Didache gives instructions on Baptism (by immersion or pouring), authority of Church of • Death of Origen (c. 254) • St. Jerome translates the
refers to Eucharistic Sacrifice, and prohibits abortion (c. 70) Rome, Against Heresies • Martyrdom of Pope Saint Bible into Latin (382-406) • Pope Saint Gelasius I
• Pope Saint Clement I writes of the inspiration of the Bible, (c. 185) Sixtus II during Mass in • Saint Augustine baptized by confirms Canon of the
the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the ministerial priesthood, and the • Pope St. Victor I declares the catacombs (c. 258) Saint Ambrose (387) Bible by decree (495)
authority of the Church of Rome, Letter to the Corinthians (c. 96) universal observance of • Martyrdom of • Saint Fabiola, first hospital • Baptism of King Clovis I
• Death of Saint John, last of the Apostles (c. 100) Easter on Sunday (c. 190) Saint Cyprian (c. 258) in Rome (c. 390) of the Franks (496)
501-600 601-700 701-800 801-900 901-1000
• Saint Benedict establishes • Roman Pantheon transformed into • Muslim conquest of Spain (711) • Martyrs’ Bay: Vikings sack • William the Pius, Duke of
Monte Cassino (c. 525) Christian Church, Santa Maria • Christian Reconquest of Spain monastery on Iona, killing Aquitaine, establishes the
Rotonda (609) (722-1492) sixty-eight monks (806)
• Dionysius Exiguus sets • Persian King Chosroes steals the • Synod at Constantinople restores Congregation of Cluny, center of
Christian calendar—uses • Iconoclasm: destruction of sacred
True Cross from Church of the images in the East over fear of sacred images and declares Feast monastic renewal (909)
Anno Domini (A.D.), Latin for Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem (614) idolatry (726) of Orthodoxy (842) • Martyrdom of Saint Wenceslaus,
“Year of the Lord” (c. 527) • Start of Islam (622) • Pope Gregory III condemns • Muslims sack Rome (846) Duke of Bohemia (929)
• Second Council of Orange • Emperor Heraclius restores the Iconoclasm (731) • Martyrdom of Christians in Córdoba
True Cross to Jerusalem (630) under Muslim rule (850-859) • Baptism of Saint Princess Olga of
denounces Semi-Pelagianism, • Death of Saint Isidore of Seville, • Saint Bede the Venerable, Kiev, Russia (957)
clarifies role of works and History of the English Church • Photian Schism: Photius deposes
last of the Western Fathers (636) Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of • Baptism of Duke Mieszko leads to
necessity of God’s grace for • Muslim conquest of Jerusalem (637) and People (731)
Constantinople; Pope Saint
• Death of Saint John of Damascus, conversion of Poland (966)
salvation (529) • Muslim conquest of Alexandria Nicholas the Great rules in favor
• Second Council of Constantinople (642) last of the Eastern Fathers (c. 749) • Roswitha of Gandersheim, nun and
of Ignatius; Photius condemns
confirms ruling of Chalcedon (553) • Third Council of Constantinople • Martyrdom of Saint Boniface, the Western Church (857-878) poetess, earliest known female
defines dogma of the Two Perfect Apostle of Germany (754) • Mission of Saints Cyril and playwright, composes numerous
• Mission of Saint Columba to Iona Wills in Christ (divine and human) • Second Council of Nicaea declares
(563) Methodius to the Slavs; invent Christian works (c. 980)
(680-681) veneration of sacred images is not
• Pope Saint Gregory the Great • Miracle of Lanciano: bread and wine idolatry (787)
Cyrillic alphabet (863) • Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir of
change visibly into flesh and blood • Fourth Council of Constantinople Kiev, grandson of Olga, leads to
oversees conversion of the • Viking Period: Irish monks save the condemns Photius (869)
Anglo-Saxons, England (596) during Mass—revealed in Bible and other books, preserving conversion of Russia (988)
scientific tests in 1971 to be human • Pope John VIII acknowledges
• Gregory the Great forbids Western culture (795-1014) lawful ascent of Photius to • Pope John XV canonizes
heart tissue and blood, type AB; • Charlemagne crowned Emperor
mistreatment of the Jews, Letters elements remain incorrupt, defying Patriarchate after death of Ignatius, Saint Ulrich—first ritual
(598) of the Holy Roman Empire (800) ending the schism (878) canonization (993)
science (c. 700)
1001-1100 1101-1200 1201-1300 1301-1400 1401-1500
• Muslims under Caliph al-Hakim • Saint Bernard of Clairvaux • Crusaders sack Constantinople • Pope Boniface VIII affirms the • Council of Constance ends Great
sack Church of the Holy Sepulchre, establishes monastery (1115) committing many atrocities (1204) authority of the Church of Rome, Western Schism (1414-1418)
• Saint Dominic sent to preach against Unam Sanctam (1302) • John Hus, follower of Wyclif,
Jerusalem (1009) • Concordat of Worms: Catharism in southern France executed as a heretic (1415)
• Avignon Papacy: Popes leave Rome
• Muslim incursion into Afghanistan compromise reached in (1206) due to political turmoil • Thomas à Kempis,
(1017) Investiture Controversy (1122) • Stephen Langton, Archbishop of (1309-1377)
Imitation of Christ (1418)
• First Lateran Council (1123) Canterbury, divides the books of • Pope Martin V forbids mistreatment
• Michael Cerularius, the Bible into chapters (1207) • Dante, Divine Comedy (1318-1321) of the Jews, Protection of the Jews
Patriarch of Constantinople, • Second Lateran Council (1139) • Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
• Saint Francis of Assisi denounces (1422)
renews condemnation of the • Muslims capture Edessa, wealth (1208) • Black Death (1347-1353) • Saint Joan of Arc executed for
Western Church (1043) Christmas Eve (1144) • Fourth Lateran Council defines • Saint Catherine of Siena convinces political reasons (1431)
• Start of construction of Cathedral dogma of Transubstantiation Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome • Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence
• Schism of the Eastern Church (1054) (1215) from Avignon (1377) temporarily reunites the East and
of Notre Dame, Paris (1163)
• Pope Saint Gregory VII acts to • Saint Anthony of Padua canonized • Great Western Schism: true the West (1431-1445)
• Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa • Pope Eugenius IV condemns
reform clerical abuses (1074) one year after death (1232) succession of Popes continues
besieges Rome (1167) • General Inquisition established to enslavement of blacks,
• Investiture Controversy: dispute • Rise of Catharism, an heretical at Rome while succession of Sicut Dudum (1435)
defeat Catharism—torture “antipopes” begins at Avignon
over relationship between secular movement that rejects the sanctioned, though with strict • Gutenberg Bible (1455)
and church authorities (1075) humanity of Christ and denounces limitations (1233) (1378-1417) • Start of the Spanish Inquisition:
• Blessed Pope Urban II calls the First • Saint Thomas Aquinas, • John Wyclif supervises first attempt to identify false converts
marriage and child-bearing (1167) Summa Theologica (1265-1273) complete English translation of the from Judaism and Islam; many
Crusade at the Council of Clermont • Rise of Waldensianism, abuses occur (1480)
• Last Crusade ends with death of St. Bible (1380-1382)
to restore the Holy Land and free an anti-clerical movement (1173) Louis IX, King of France (1270) • Church condemns Wyclif for • Christopher Columbus discovers the
Eastern Christians from Muslim • Third Lateran Council (1179) • Pope Gregory X forbids numerous heresies including New World (1492)
mistreatment of the Jews, Letter on • Queen Isabella of Spain forbids
aggression (1095) • Muslims under Saladin conquer Predestination and denial of the enslavement of the natives of
• Crusaders retake Jerusalem (1099) Jerusalem (1187) the Jews (1272) Sacraments (1382) Hispaniola (1495)
1501-1600 1601-1700 1701-1800 1801-1900 1901-2000 2001-2100
• Martin Luther initiates • St. Martin de Porres enters • Blessed Junípero Serra and • Conversion of Saint Elizabeth • First World War (1914-1918) • Islamic terrorists destroy
Protestant Revolt (1517) the Dominican Order (1603) companions establish Indian Ann Seton, first native-born • Mary appears at Fatima World Trade Center in
• Mary appears to Saint Juan • Saint Vincent de Paul Missions in California American Saint (1805) (1917) New York killing thousands
Diego in Mexico—9 million establishes Confraternity of (1767-1782) • Napoleon’s persecution of • Communist uprising (2001)—Father Mychal
Aztecs converted (1531) Charity (1617) • American Revolution Pope Pius VII (1809-1814) in Russia (1917) Judge, first official victim,
• Pope Paul III denounces • Galileo censured by the (1775-1783) • Catholic Emancipation Act in • Saint Pio of Pietrelcina dies while administering
mistreatment of Native Inquisition for asserting his • French Revolution, England (1829) receives the stigmata (1918) last rites
Americans, Sublimis Deus findings on the solar system culmination of atheistic • Martyrdom of Bl. Miguel Pro • Pope John Paul the Great
(1537) • Mary appears to St. Catherine
disprove the Bible (1633) fervor in Europe Laboure, Paris (1830) (1927) proposes the Luminous
• King Henry VIII breaks • Founding of Maryland, (1789-1799) • Saint Faustina, Divine Mercy Mysteries of the Holy
England away from • Pope Gregory XVI condemns
the Church (1538) American Catholic colony • Founding of Georgetown, enslavement of blacks, in My Soul (1936-1938) Rosary, focusing on key
(1634) first U.S. Catholic college • Second World War events from Christ’s earthly
• Council of Trent (1545-1563) • North American Martyrs: (1789) In Supremo (1839) (1939-1945) ministry, Rosarium Virginis
• Catholics persecuted • Dogma of the Immaculate • Martyrdom of St. Maximilian
under Queen Elizabeth I Saints Isaac Jogues, • John Carroll, first U.S. Mariae (2002)
John de Brébeuf, and bishop, works to establish Conception (1854) Kolbe at Auschwitz (1941)
of England (1558-1603)
companions (1642-1649) religious rights for • Mary appears to Saint • Blessed Teresa of Calcutta ---
• Saint Teresa of Ávila, Life Bernadette, Lourdes (1858)
(1565) • St. Margaret Mary Alacoque American Catholics begins work among the poor
receives vision of the Sacred (1789-1815) • First Vatican Council defines (1948) Produced by
• Founding of St. Augustine, dogma of Papal Infallibility
Florida, oldest city in Heart of Jesus (1673) • President George Washington • Dogma of the Assumption
America (1565) • Baptism of Saint Kateri addresses letter to American (1869-1870) (1950)
• Battle of Lepanto: Rome Tekakwitha (1676) Catholics thanking them for • Martyrs of Uganda: Saints • John F. Kennedy, first U.S. Behold The Truth
miraculously saved from • Four Gallican Articles their patriotism and service Charles Lwanga, Joseph Catholic president (1960) Discovering the What & Why of the Catholic Faith

Muslim invasion (1571) denounce Papal authority during Revolutionary War Mkasa, and companions • Second Vatican Council
• Douay-Rheims Bible: in France (1682) (1790) (1885-1886) (1962-1965)
NT (1582); OT (1610) • Gallican Articles • Persecution of the Church in • Saint Thérèse of Lisieux • Fall of Communism (1989) beholdthetruth.com
• Martyrs of Japan (1597) withdrawn (1693) France (1792-1801) enters convent (1888) • Great Jubilee Year (2000)