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Church History: The 1400s
What happened in this century?
Contact Mark Nickens, Ph.D. in Church History, at drnickens@triad.rr.com. Questions, comments, and observations are welcome!
©2011 Mark Nickens
Go to Study Church History here. |
| 1400
Around this time, John Huss became aware of John Wycliffe's writings.
This occurred because the marriage of Anne, sister of King Wenceslaus IV
of Bohemia, to Richard II of England (in 1382) caused much exchange of
culture and writings between Bohemia and England.
1404 Pope Boniface IX died (who lived in Rome). Pope Innocent VII was elected (and lived in Rome). 1406 Pope Innocent VII died (who lived in Rome). Pope Gregory XII was elected (and lived in Rome). Gregory XII began a dialogue with the Antipope Benedict XIII: he wanted both men to step down as pope so that new pope could be elected, returned the Catholic Church to one universally recognized pope. Nothing came of these negotiations. 1409 The Council of Pisa met. Its purpose was to provide a platform for the two popes (or one pope and one antipope) to resign with dignity and to elect a new pope. A new pope was elected, Alexander V. But neither of the two other popes agreed to step down. Now the Catholic Church has three popes. 1410 Pope Alexander V died. He is regarded as an antipope. Pope John XXIII was elected to take his place. 1414-8 The Council of Constance (in Germany) met. Gregory XII (who lived in Rome) and John XXIII agreed to step down. Benedict XIII (in Avignon) did not step down. Benedict fled to his homeland of Aragon, where he was recognized as pope. The Council elected Martin V as pope. The Catholic Church was back to one pope (except for Aragon who looked to Benedict XIII as pope). The Council also condemned over 200 of John Wycliffe's propositions and had his body dug up, and burned. The Council also condemned and executed John Huss by burning him at the stake. He was a church leader and held many of Wycliffe's ideas but on the other side of Europe in Bohemia (current day Czech Republic). He told them he was willing to recant if they could prove that he was wrong by Scripture [author's note: This is reminiscent of Luther's stand at the Diet of Worms.] 1423 Benedict XIII died (in Aragon). 1450 Gutenberg's printing press was completed by this year. 1452 Leonadi da Vinci born. 1453 Constantinople was defeated by a Muslim army. 1455 Gutenberg printed 180 copies of a Bible, named the Gutenberg Bible. [author's note: The Bibles do not have page numbers.] 1463 Frederick III (the Wise) born. He became Luther's protector. 1466 Erasmus born. (or in 1469) 1468 Gutenberg died. 1473 Copernicus born. He formulated a theory that the sun was the center of the solar system, not earth. 1475 Michelangelo born. 1483 Martin Luther born. 1484 Ulrich Zwingli born. also Catherine of Aragon, future first wife of Henry VIII, born. 1489 Catherine of Aragon was promised, via a treaty between England and Spain, to Arthur, Henry VIII's older brother. 1491 George Blaurock born. He was an early Anabaptist leader. also Ignatius Loyola born. (or in 1495) also Henry VIII born. 1492 Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. Read more about him and his Christian mission here. 1495 Leonardo da Vinci began painting "The Last Supper." He finished in 1498. 1496 Michelanglo began sculpting the "Pieta." He finished in 1501. also Menno Simons born. He was an early Anabaptist leader. 1497 Arthur and Catherine of Aragon betrothed. 1498 Feliz Manz born. He was an early Anabaptist leader (also Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa.) 1499 Katharina von Bora born. She became Martin Luther's wife. |
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| Question/comments contact Mark at drnickens@triad.rr.com. |