Chronology of Medieval Christianity

Christian History Timeline 1400 CE - 1500 CE

When was the Lollard uprising in England? When was Jan Hus burned for heresy? When did Constantinople fall to the Ottoman Turks, ending the Eastern Roman Empire? When was the Sistine Chapel built? When did Ferdinand and Isabella issue an edict expelling Jews from Spain? These are all important dates in the history of Christianity; not only are they presented here in this timeline, but they are presented in historical and religious context.

There are several different types of color-coded dates in this timeline of Medieval Christianity, explained in a color key at the bottom of the timeline.

Timeline of Medieval Christianity: 1400 CE - 1500 CE
1400	Holy Roman Emperor Wenceslas IV is deposed on account of drunkenness.
1400	Czech students of John Wycliffe bring Wycliffism to the Bohemian capital of Prague. Preacher John Hus adopts Wycliffe's theories to support his own claims against ecclesiastical extravagance.
1400	The Northern provinces of Italy devise their own systems of government. The government of Venice becomes a merchant oligarchy; Milan is ruled by dynastic despotism; and Florence becomes a republic, ruled by the rich. The three cities expand and conquer most of Northern Italy.
February 09, 1404	The last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine Palaeologus, was born. Palaeologus would later die defending Constantinople against the armies of the Ottoman Turks in the last siege of 1453. He led a force of 4,000 to successfully hold off 160,000 advancing Turks for seven weeks.
October 01, 1404	Boniface IX died.
October 17, 1404	Pope Innocent VII was elected.
October 18, 1405	Pope Pius II was born.
November 06, 1406	Pope Innocent VII died.
November 30, 1406	Gregory XII was elected pope.
December 19, 1406	Gregory XII was crowned pope.
October 26, 1407	Mobs attacked Jewish community in Kracow, Poland.
1408	The Council of Oxford prohibits translations of the Scriptures into the vernacular unless and until they are fully approved by Church authority, a decision sparked by the publication of the Wycliffite Bible.
1409	Pope Alexander V publicly burns 200 of John Wycliffe's writings.
March 25, 1409	The Council of Pisa opened for the purpose of ending the Great Schism of the West (1378-1417).
August 07, 1409	The Council of Pisa was closed. Convened to end the Great Schism of the West (1378-1417) caused by two rival popes, the Council in fact elected a third pope, Alexander V(afterwards regarded as an antipope).
July 15, 1410	Forces from Poland and Lithuania defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Tannenberg.
January 06, 1412	Joan of Arc was born.
1414	A Lollard uprising in England fails. Some Lollards retreat underground and aid the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.
July 21, 1414	Pope Sixtus IV was born.
November 05, 1414	The Council of Constance opened in Constance, Germany, in an effort to get all three rival popes to step down.
March 14, 1415	John Hus travels to the Council of Constance to propose reforms for the Church. Rather than listen to him, the Council tries Hus for heresy, excommunicates him and sentences him to be burned him to death. This betrayal and execution prompt further revolt by his followers.
July 04, 1415	Gregory XII officially convened the Council of Constance.
July 06, 1415	Jan Hus was burned for heresy in Constance, Switzerland.
February 23, 1417	Pope Paul II was born.
October 18, 1417	Pope Gregory XII died.
November 11, 1417	The Council of Constance, largest Church meeting in medieval history, officially ends the Great Schism of the West by declaring three rival popes deposed and electing a third: Pope Martin V. It replaces a papal monarchy with a conciliar government, which recognizes a council of prelates as the pope's authority and mandates the frequent meeting of councils. This new period is known as the Italian territorial papacy and lasts until 1517 CE.
July 30, 1419	Followers of executed reformer Jan Hus stormed the town hall in Prague and threw Catholic councillors out of the windows.
December 22, 1419	Antipope John XXIII died.
1420 - 1498	Life of Tomas de Torquemada, principal organizer of the Spanish Inquisition.
1420	Supporters of John Hus defeat German "crusaders." The lower-class Hussites are led by General John Zizka.
March 01, 1420	Pope Martin V called for crusade against followers of John Hus.
May 11, 1421	Jews were expelled from Styria, Austria.
May 23, 1421	Government officials in Austria began imprisoning and expelling Jews.
1427	Thomas a Kempis writes The Imitation of Christ, a book directing the individual through Orthodox mysticism. Originally in Latin, it is translated into European languages for the lay audience.
May 10, 1427	Jews were expelled from Berne, Switzerland.
March 22, 1429	Joan of Arc submitted to examinations by eminent ecclesiastical advisors to Charles, the Dauphin, in the hopes of convincing them all that her divinely-inspired mission to drive the English out of France was valid. The advisors recommended that Charles make use of her and, with troops placed under her command, she soon raised the English siege on Orleans.
April 29, 1429	Joan of Arc led French forces to victory over the English army by raising the siege at Orleans.
August 26, 1429	Joan of Arc entered Paris
January 01, 1430	The requirement for Jews in Sicily to attend conversionist services was lifted.
May 05, 1430	Jewish citizens were expelled from Speyer, Germany
May 23, 1430	Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundians at Compiegne who sold her to the British. The English accused her of being a witch and condemned her for heresy, publicly burning her to death in the city of Rouen.
October 03, 1430	Jews were expelled from Eger, Bohemia.
January 01, 1431	Pope Alexander VI was born.
February 20, 1431	Pope Martin V died. Replacing three rival popes, his election served to end the Great Schism of the West.
February 21, 1431	England began its trial against Joan of Arc.
March 03, 1431	Eugene IV was elected pope.
May 30, 1431	Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.
July 23, 1431	The Council of Basel opened, but Pope Eugene IV would try to summarily dismiss it later that year.
December 18, 1431	Pope Eugene IV dismissed the Council of Basel, but most of those attending simply ignored him.
December 15, 1433	Pope Eugene IV gave into the pressure from secular and religious authorities, withdrawing his bull dismissing the Council of Basel.
1438	Johann Gutenberg invents the printing press and pioneers the technology of movable type, creating the first Bible printed with movable type in Mainz, Germany.
September 04, 1438	A few delegates to the Council of Basel who remained in Basel after the Council was moved to Italy deposed Pope Eugene IV, but their decision was disregarded by most of Europe.
May 09, 1439	Pope Pius III was born.
July 06, 1439	Laetentur coeli, an agreement between Pope Eugene IV and Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaeologus, was issued in order to unify the Latin and Greek churches.
November 05, 1439	A few delegates to the Council of Basel elected Felix V as antipope to Pope Eugene IV.
February 04, 1441	Pope Eugene IV published the encyclical "Cantante domino, " declaring that the biblical canon consisted of the 66 protocanonical books and 12 deuterocanonical (Apocrypha) books, for a total 78 writings.
April 20, 1441	During the Council of Florence (1438-45), Pope Eugene IV issued the bull "Etsi non dubitemus," asserting the superiority of the pope over ecumenical councils.
December 05, 1443	Pope Julius II was born.
December 28, 1446	Antipope Clement VIII died.
February 23, 1447	Pope Eugene IV died.
March 06, 1447	Nicholas V was elected pope.
February 17, 1448	Pope Nicholas V signed the Concordat of Vienna.
March 19, 1452	Pope Nicholas V crowned Frederick III as emperor, the last time such a coronation occurred in St. Peter's.
1453	Bordeaux falls to French forces and the Hundred Years' War ends without a treaty.
April 04, 1453	Siege of Constantinople began. By the time the authority of the Byzantine Empire had shrunk to little more than the city of Constantinople itself. Sultan Mehmed II, ruler of the Ottoman Empire, launched this final siege, breaching the walls after only 50 days. The walls that protected Constantinople had stood for more than a thousand years; when they fell, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) also ended. After the Ottomans defeated the Byzantine Empire they continued expanding into the Balkans. The Ottoman Turkish Empire moved its capital from Bursa to Istanbul (Constantinople). After 1500, the Moguls (1526-1857 CE) and the Safavids (1520-1736 CE) followed the military example set by the Ottomans and created two new empires.
May 29, 1453	Constantine XI Palaeologus, the last Byzantine emperor, died.
February 23, 1455	Johannes Gutenberg released the first book to be printed with movable type in the West: a Bible. This would make the creation of Bibles cheaper and, eventually, help to increase the availability of Bibles to both the clergy and the laity - a key factor in the ensuing Protestant Reformation.
March 24, 1455	Pope Nicholas V died.
April 08, 1455	Callistus III was elected pope.
May 03, 1455	Jews were forced to flee Spain.
May 15, 1455	Pope Callistus III proclaimed a crusade against the Turks in order to recapture the city of Constantinople.
June 16, 1456	Pope Callistus III declared Joan of Arc to be innocent on the charges of heresy and witchcraft, for which she had been burned at the stake in 1431.
July 07, 1456	Joan of Arc was formally acquitted, even though she had already been executed.
August 06, 1458	Pope Calistus III died.
August 18, 1458	Pius II was elected pope. Pius was an enthusiastic supporter of crusades against the Turks
March 02, 1459	Pope Adrian VI was born.
January 14, 1463	Frederick III, protector of Martin Luther, was born.
June 18, 1464	Pope Pius II launched a short crusade against the Turks in Italy, but he fell ill and died before much could happen. This would mark the death of the "crusading mentality" which had been so important in Europe over the previous three centuries.
August 15, 1464	Pius II died. Pius was an enthusiastic supporter of crusades against the Turks
August 30, 1464	Paul II was elected pope. Paul was not popular among the humanists because of his repression of scholars and suppression of the Roman academy.
February 03, 1468	Johannes Gutenberg died in Mainz. Gutenberg's creation of movable-type printing presses made the creation of Bibles cheaper and, eventually, helped to increase the availability of Bibles to both the clergy and the laity - a key factor in the Protestant Reformation.
February 29, 1468	Pope Paul III was born. Paul would play an important role in the Protestant Reformation, excommunicating King Henry VIII of England, giving official approval to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), initiating the Inquisition against Protestants, and more.
November 19, 1469	Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born. On this date Sikhs commemorate the birth of the founder of the Sikh faith and the first of the Ten Gurus.
July 26, 1471	Pope Paul II died. Paul was not popular among the humanists because of his repression of scholars and suppression of the Roman academy.
August 08, 1471	Thomas a Kempis died. Kempis is known as the author of "The Imitation of Christ," an important Christian devotional work.
August 09, 1471	Sixtus IV was elected pope. Sixtus took measures to repress heresy and created the Spanish Inquisition at the request of of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile.
1473	The Sistine Chapel is built under supervision of Giovanni de Dolci.
February 19, 1473	Nicolaus Copernicus was born.
December 11, 1475	Pope Leo X was born. Leo would be pope when Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation.
August 28, 1476	Pope Paul IV is born. Paul became so unpopular that, after he died, a mob stormed the Inquisition and tore down his statue.
1477	The first book is printed in England.
February 07, 1477	Saint Thomas More, author of the famous political book "Utopia," was born. More would eventually become a Catholic martyr for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England.
1478	The Spanish Inquisition is created by Ferdinand and Isabella with the consent of Pope Sixtus IV. The main goal is to punish and persecute all of the "converted" Jews (Marranos) and Muslims (Moriscos) who still managed to practice their old faith in secret.
May 26, 1478	Pope Clement VII was born.
November 01, 1478	Pope Sixtus IV issued a papal bull extending the power of the Inquisition to Spain.
1483	The Incan Empire was established in Peru.
October 17, 1483	Pope Sixtus IV launched the Spanish Inquisition, placing it under joint administration of both the church and the state. Tomas de Torquemada, 63, was appointed Grand Inquisitor in charge of removing Jews and Muslims from Spain.
November 10, 1483	Martin Luther is born at Eisleben, Germany..
1484	Pope Innocent VIII officially denounces pagan practices.
January 01, 1484	Ulrich Zwingli was born.
August 12, 1484	Pope Sixtus IV died.
December 09, 1484	With the papal bull "Summis Desiderantes Affectibus," Pope Innocent VII appointed Heinrich Kramer and Johann Sprenger to be inquisitors in northern Germany. Kramer and Sprenger wrote a book, Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer), which became the standard text on the identification, behavior, interrogation, and punishment of witches for the following two centuries.
December 16, 1485	Catherine of Aragon, Spanish princess and the first wife of Henry VIII, was born. It was Henry's desire to divorce from Catherine that touched off the English Reformation.
February 11, 1486	Tomas de Torquemada is given the position of Grand Inquisitor for the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Valencia, etc.
November 15, 1486	Johann Eck, principle opponent of Martin Luther, was born in Egg, Germany.
1487	Henry VII of England eliminates the right of accused heretics to know the names of their accusers.
May 19, 1487	The Faculty of Theology at the University of Cologne endorsed Heinrich Kramer and Johann Sprenger's Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer), a guide used by the Inquisition for the diagnosis, behavior, trial, and punishment of witches. This book would go through nineteen editions over the next two centuries and was an important basis for some of the gruesome tortures applied to people accused of deviant behavior.
September 10, 1487	Pope Julius III was born.
July 02, 1489	Thomas Cranmer, English reformer and martyr, was born.
June 02, 1491	King Henry VIII of England was born. Henry's desire to produce a male heir and his failure to do so with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, would lead to a conflict between Henry and the pope - and, after that, the English Reformation.
November 11, 1491	Martin Bucer, a leading figure for the Reformation, was born.
December 24, 1491	Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, was born.
1492	Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain. With the help of Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor, they also force the conversion or expulsion of all Jews in Spain.
1492	Christopher Columbus discovers the Americas in the name of Spain, launching an era of extensive European exploration and conquest.
January 02, 1492	Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, later benefactors of Christopher Columbus, end Muslim rule in Spain by conquering Granada, last Muslim stronghold.
January 23, 1492	The Pentateuch was first printed.
March 30, 1492	Inquisitor-General Tomas Torquemada recommended that all Jews be expelled from Spain.
March 31, 1492	Ferdinand and Isabella issue an edict expelling Jews from Spain. Their ultimate goal was to establish religious purity in Spain, something they had already taken significant steps towards after recapturing Granada from the Moors. The official reason for the expulsion was that the Jewish community influenced the Marranos to remain Jewish, but a more realistic explanation points towards the desire to appropriate Jewish property and money.
August 02, 1492	Jews are expelled from Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
August 11, 1492	Rodrigo Borgia became Pope Alexander VI. Among his (at least) four children were Lucrezia Borgia and Cesare Borgia, idol of Machiavelli.
October 24, 1492	In Mecklenburg, Germany, 24 Jews were burned at stake.
December 31, 1492	100,000 Jews are expelled from Sicily.
May 04, 1493	Pope Alexander VI issued the bull "Inter caeterea II," formally dividing possession of the New World between Spain and Portugal along a longitudinal line than runs 250 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands.
January 28, 1495	Pope Alexander VI gave his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France.
March 08, 1495	Saint John of God, founder of the Hospitallers, was born. John was named by Pope Leo XIII as patron of hospitals and the dying.
March 09, 1496	Jews are expelled from Carintha, Austria.
March 12, 1496	Jews are expelled from Syria.
December 05, 1496	Jews are expelled from Portugal.
February 15, 1497	Philipp Melanchthon was born in Bretten, Germany. Melanchthon was a friend and one of the most important supporters of Martin Luther.
May 13, 1497	Pope Alexander VI excommunicated Girolamo Savonarola.
September 16, 1498	Tomas de Torquemada died.
1499	Francisco Jime'nez forces the mass conversion of Moors in Spain.
March 31, 1499	Pope Pius IV was born.
February 24, 1500	Holy Roman Emperor Charles V was born. During his reign from 1519 to 1556, he officially pronounced Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic.

Color Key: This chart explains which sorts of topics are given which colors in the chronologies.

Color	Topic
Blue	Councils, Synods, Bulls, and other official church decisions.
Yellow	Violence: Crusades, wars, insurrections, and other acts of violence.
Green	Popes: births, deaths, elections, and other actions important to the papacy.
Orange	Heresies, schisms, and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation.
Purple	Jews: acts of antisemitism and persecution against the Jews
Red	Other: various events important to the development of medieval Christianity.
Grey	Miscellaneous events to provide historical context and comparison

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