Chronology

70,000–30,000

Neanderthal burials in Europe and the Middle East

40,000–35,000

The Lion-man of the Hohlenstein-Stadel, a prehistoric ivory sculpture, one of the oldest examples of figurative art

40,000–10,000

Cave and rock paintings in Europe and Eurasia

35,000–11,000

Venus figurines in Europe and Eurasia probably with religious or ritual significance

10,000–8,000

Göbekli Tepe (Turkey), perhaps the oldest temple discovered and one of the oldest man-made sites of worship in the world

4500–1900

Sumerian city-states centred around a temple in Mesopotamia

c.3000

First dynastic Sumerian and Egyptian states

c.3000

The first Stonehenge monument (postholes date back to 8000 bce)

2560

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the tallest man-made structure in the world until Lincoln Cathedral was completed in 1311 CE. The Pyramid texts are some of the oldest religious texts in the world.

3000–1450

Minoan civilization in Crete

1800

The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest religious texts written on clay tablets in ancient Mesopotamia

c.1300

Approximate historical setting of the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt

1200–400

Vedas and Upanishads (ritual and spiritual texts) written, developing religious ideas in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Rigveda, one of the earliest texts, probably transmitted orally as early as 2,000 bce.

c.1050

The Phoenician alphabet, which simplifies the ‘Proto-Canaanite’ script into twenty-two letters, spreads in the Mediterranean region influencing the emergence of Greek, Old Italic, and Anatolian scripts

c.1000–800

The Berlin Gold Hat, an artefact probably used in the sun cult in Central Europe

c.960

Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem

753

Proposed date of the founding of Rome by Romulus and his twin brother, Remus

c.750–480

Archaic Greece

c.700–250

The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) written

586

Destruction of Jerusalem Temple and beginning of Jewish exile in Babylonia

c.563/480

Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism, born in ancient India

c.551

Confucius, founder of Confucianism, born in ancient China

c.520

Rebuilding of Second Temple in Jerusalem

510–323

Classical Greece

510–27

The Roman Republic (the classical Roman civilization)

c.470–399

Socrates, Athenian philosopher, one of the founders of Western philosophy

432

The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to goddess Athena, completed in the Acropolis of Athens

c.428–348

Plato, Athenian philosopher, and founder of the Academy, considered the first institution of higher learning in Europe

c.384–22

Aristotle, philosopher from ancient Greece, whose work influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies and Christian theology in Western Europe

356–23

Alexander the Great rules one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to north-western India

323–146

Hellenistic Greece

100–44

Julius Caesar, Roman general whose dictatorship enabled transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire

27bce–476 ce

The Roman Empire

c.29, 30 or 33

The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth (Jesus Christ), the central figure in Christianity

c.36–68

The ministry of Paul and the composition of thirteen Epistles

c.49

The first Christian Council in Jerusalem (Jewish law not to be imposed on Gentile Christians)

c.60–100

The synoptic Gospels are written

c.90–110

The Gospel of John written

63

Roman conquest of Jerusalem

64

The great fire of Rome; Emperor Nero’s (r. 54–68) persecution of Christians and probably the date of Peter’s martyrdom in Rome

70

The destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple

c.135–217

Judah ha-Nasi finalizes the Mishnah (Oral Torah)

c.150–215

Clement of Alexandria, an early Church father, teaches at the Catechetical School of Alexandria

c.155

The first Apology of Justin Martyr

c.184–253

Origen of Alexandria, an early Church father, writes over 2,000 treaties

268

Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, deposed for Monarchianism, a heresy which claims that God is one person, in contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as a unity

c.280

Gregory the Illuminator, converts King Tiridates of Armenia

c.305

Anthony of Egypt (the Great) organizes a colony of hermits. The translation of his biography into Latin leads to the spread of monasticism in Western Europe.

306

Constantine (r. 306–37), proclaimed emperor at York

312

Constantine adopts a Christian symbol for his standards at the battle of Milvian Bridge

313

Emperors Constantine and Licinius (r. 308–24) meet at Milan and agree a policy of toleration

c.315

Eusebius becomes bishop of Caesarea

325

Council of Nicaea condemns the theology of Arius and declares that Christ is ‘one in essence with the Father’

330

Constantine inaugurates Constantinople as the ‘New Rome’

c.330

Macarius of Egypt founds a monastery in the desert at Wadi-el-Natrun

337

Constantine baptized on his deathbed

c.360–435

John Cassian, probably born in Scythia Minor, establishes an Egyptian-style monastery near Marseilles, which serves as a model for Medieval monasticism

361

Julian (‘the Apostate’) (r. 361–3) becomes Roman emperor

c.370

Basil of Caesarea (330–379), Gregory of Nazianzus (the Theologian) (c.329–390) and Gregory of Nyssa (c.335–c.395), known as the Cappadocian Fathers, write works on Trinitarian theology

374

Ambrose becomes bishop of Milan

379–95

Theodosius I (the Great) (r. 379–95) makes Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire

381

First Council of Constantinople: the see of Constantinople assigned ‘seniority of honour’ after Rome

382

Pope Damasus I (366–84) holds council and lists the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments

386

Jerome, who translated most of the Bible into Latin, settles in a monastery at Bethlehem

395

Augustine, bishop of Hippo; his works, including the City of God and the Confessions, have a profound influence on Western thought

398

John Chrysostom becomes bishop of Constantinople

c.400

The completion of the Jerusalem Talmud

410

The sack of Rome by the Goths

431

The Council of Ephesus condemns Nestorius

451

The Council of Chalcedon affirms Christ as one person ‘in two natures’, an idea rejected by Christians in North Africa and the Middle East who will constitute ‘Oriental’ Orthodox churches

455

The sack of Rome by the Vandals and the Moors

c.460

The death of Patrick ‘the Apostle of Ireland’

c.470–544

Dionysius Exiguus from Scythia Minor, the inventor of Anno Domini (ad) dating used in the Gregorian and Julian calendars

496

Baptism of Clovis, King of the Franks (r. 481–511)

533–40

Emperor Justinian I the Great (r. 527–65) reconquers North Africa from the Vandals and Italy from the Goths

532

The Church of the Holy Wisdom (St Sophia) rebuilt by Justinian in Constantinople

c.540

Benedict of Nursia (d. 547) draws up his monastic rule at Monte Cassino

553

Second Council of Constantinople

c.563

Columba (521–97) leaves Ireland with twelve disciples and establishes a centre at Iona

c.600

Completion of the Babylonian Talmud

610

First revelation to Muhammad

612

King Sisebut (c.565–621), ruler in Hispania and Septimania, orders forced conversion of Jews to Christianity in Visigothic Kingdom

622

Hijra, beginning of the Muslim calendar

632

The death of Muhammad

638

Arab conquest of Jerusalem

644–56

Final recension of the Qur’an under Caliph Uthman ibn Affan of the Rashidun Caliphate (r. 644–56)

661

The death of Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the beginning of the schism between Sunni and Shiites. Ali ibn Abi Talib was the fourth Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate (r. 656–61) and the first Imam of Shia Islam (r. 632–61)

664

The Synod of Whitby; King Oswiu of Northumbria (r. 654–70) rules that his kingdom should follow Rome rather than the customs practised by Irish monks at Iona

681

Third Council of Constantinople emphasizes Chalcedonian Christology stating that Christ has ‘two natural wills’

711–16

Arab conquest of Iberian Peninsula

726

Iconoclast controversy

731

Bede finalizes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People

732

Charles Martel halts the Arab advance near Poitiers

750–1258

The House of Wisdom (the Grand Library of Baghdad) of the Abbasid Caliphate enables the translation of secular texts from Greek, Persian and Indian into Arabic

756

Abd al-Rahman I (r. 756–88) proclaimed first Emir of Córdoba

768

King Karl (Charles) the Great (Charlemagne) (r. 768–800) and King Carloman I (r. 768–71) divide the Frankish kingdom (Karl sole ruler after 771)

787

Second Council of Nicaea upholds the veneration of icons

800

Charlemagne crowned Emperor (r. 800–814) by Pope Leo III (795–816) in Rome

823–7

Arab conquest of Crete and Sicily

843

‘The triumph of Orthodoxy’; icons restored in churches in the Byzantine Empire

848

Anskar, archbishop of Bremen, evangelizes Denmark and Sweden

863–7

The ‘Photian Schism’: communion broken between Pope Nicholas I (858–67) and Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople (858–67; 877–86)

863

Cyril and Methodius, the ‘Apostles of the Slavs’, set out from the Byzantine Empire to Moravia, translating the Bible and service books into Slavonic

929

Abd al-Rahman III (r. 929–61) declared first Caliph of Córdoba

961

Athanasius the Athonite founds the great Lavra on Mount Athos

988

Conversion of Russia: Prince Vladimir Sviatoslavich (the Great) of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kyiv (r. 980–1015) is baptized by Byzantine missionaries

1009

Destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

1031

Disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba

1033

Kingdom of Aragon established

1037

Unification of the kingdoms of Castille and León

1051

The Monastery of the Caves (Pechersk Lavra) founded in Kyiv

1054

The Great Schism; mutual anathemas exchanged in Constantinople between Cardinal Humbert of Moyenmoutier (c.1000/1015–61), representing the papacy, and Patriarch Michael I Cerularius of Constantinople (1043–59)

1059

Decree places papal elections in hands of cardinal bishops

1060–92

Norman conquest of Muslim Sicily

1071

Saljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert

1085

Christian conquest of Toledo initiating Arabic to Latin translation

1093

Anselm becomes Archbishop of Canterbury

1095

Pope Urban II (1088–99) preaches the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont

1096

The Rhineland massacres; crusaders kill thousands of Jews en route to the Holy Land

1099

Crusaders take Jerusalem

c.1100

Restrictive legislation passed in Hungary against Muslim population

1123

First Lateran Council

1130

Disputed election in Rome of Pope Innocent II (1130–43) and Pope Anacletus II (1130–8)

1139

Second Lateran Council

1143

Translation of the Qur’an into Latin (Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, organizes study of Islam)

1146

Bernard of Clairvaux preaches the Second Crusade at Vézélay

1150

First ritual murder accusation against Jews in England

1170

Murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury (1162–70)

1179

Third Lateran Council

1187

Conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin (Salah ad-Din) (r. 1174–93), founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

1190

Maimonides (d. 1204) completes Mishneh Torah, one of the most influential books of medieval Jewish thought

1189–92

Third Crusade

1204

Fourth Crusade diverted to Constantinople

1209

Francis of Assisi’s first rule approved by Pope Innocent III (1198–1216)

1212

Children’s Crusade

1212

Christian victory over Almohads of al-Andalus at Las Navas de Tolosa

1215

Fourth Lateran Council

1216

Establishment of Dominican friars

1229

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (r. 1220–50) and Al-Kamil (c.1177–1238), the fourth Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt, sign a treaty ceding Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the Kingdom of Jerusalem; the Temple area, the Dome of the Rock, and the Aqsa Mosque remain under Muslim control

1232

Papal Inquisition established by Gregory IX (1227–41)

1237

Muhammad I (r. c.1238–73) establishes Granada as the capital of newly founded tributary state of Nasrids, a situation that continues until 1492

1237–40

Kyivan Russia overrun by Mongol Tatars

1240

The Disputation of Paris (the Trial of the Talmud) at the court of King Louis IX of France (r. 1226–70); four rabbis defend the Talmud against accusations that it contained blasphemies against Christianity

1242

The Talmud and Jewish religious manuscripts burned on streets of Paris

1244

Jerusalem reconquered by Muslims

1245

First Council of Lyon formally deposes Emperor Frederick II

1248

Christian conquest of Almohad Seville

1225–74

Thomas Aquinas, influential Catholic theologian and philosopher; author of Summa Theologiae (1265–74)

1261

Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1261–82) of the Byzantine Empire retakes Constantinople

1263

The Disputation of Barcelona; a formal ordered debate between representatives of Christianity and Judaism regarding whether or not the Talmud and midrash showed that Jesus was the Messiah

1274

Second Council of Lyon decrees union between Rome and the Orthodox, decisions rejected in the Greek and Slav worlds

1290

Jews expelled from England

1291

Siege of Acre; nominal end to the Crusades

1295

Conversion of the Mongol dynasty to Islam; destruction of the Nestorian Church

c.1299–1323/1324

Osman I (Osman Ghazi), founder of the Ottoman dynasty and first Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (c.1299–1922)

1302

Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), in Unam Sanctum, proclaims universal jurisdiction of the pope and the superiority of the spiritual power over the secular

1314

Dante’s Divine Comedy

1324

Marsilius of Padua writes Defensor pacis; the Church should be ruled by general councils and its property depends on the state

1287–1347

William of Ockham, Franciscan friar and major theologian and philosopher of the Middle Ages

1327

Death of ‘Meister’ Eckhart, German Dominican mystic

1337

The Hesychast controversy; the teaching of Gregory Palamas on the Divine Light upheld by Councils at Constantinople, 1341, 1347, and 1351

c.1340

St. Sergii of Radonezh (1314–92) founds the Monastery of the Holy Trinity near Moscow

1347–61

Black Death in Europe

1375–82

John Wycliffe (c.1328–84) attacks clerical wealth, monasticism, and the authority of the pope

1378

The Western Schism (1378–1417); rival popes, Urban VI (1378–89) in Rome and Clement VII (1378–94) in Avignon

1389

Battle of Kosovo

1391

Mass attacks on Jews of Iberia, provoking huge numbers of forced conversions and laying the ground for the ‘converso’ crisis of the fifteenth century

1413

Jan Huss (1369–1415) writes De Ecclesia asking for church reform

1414–18

The Council of Constance affirms that general councils are superior to the pope; Jan Huss burnt by the Council in 1415; election of Pope Martin V (1417–31) ending the Western Schism

1418

First publication of the Imitatio Christi, thought to be written by Thomas à Kempis

1438–9

The Council of Ferrara-Florence proclaims reunion of Rome and the Orthodox; rejected in the Greek and Slav worlds

1449

First laws of ‘blood purity’ against converts passed in Toledo

1453

Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Empire ruled by Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror (r. 1444–6; 1451–81)

c.1455

Gutenberg Bible printed

1479

The establishment of the ‘Spanish Inquisition’ with papal approval

1488

Voroneţ Monastery, also known as ‘the Sistine Chapel of the East’, and Suceviţa Monastery (1585) in Moldavia, display exterior wall paintings depicting ancient Greek philosophers

1492

Jews expelled from Spain; Muslim Granada conquered; Muslims guaranteed freedom of religion as subjects of the Christian sovereigns, but many leave

1492

Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) sails from Seville

1493–4

Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) partitions newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal

1498

Savonarola (1452–98) burned in Florence

1500

First major attack on the Qur’an published in Valencia

1502

Muslims of Castile forced to convert to Christianity, initiating the ‘Morisco’ period; Aragon adopts similar policies in 1526

1506

Pope Julius II (1503–13) lays foundation stone of St. Peter’s in Rome under the guidance of architect Donato Bramante (1444–1514)

1508

Michelangelo (1475–1564) paints ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome

1517

Martin Luther (1483–1546) posts 95 theses at Wittenberg Cathedral

1519–23

First edition of the printed Babylonian Talmud published with support of Pope Leo X (1513–21) in Venice

1520–66

Suleiman the Magnificent (the Lawgiver), the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

1521

The papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem excommunicates Luther; the Diet of Worms; Luther argues before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (r. 1519–56)

1522–3

Ignatius Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises

1524

Franciscans arrive in Mexico

1525

Anabaptist Thomas Münzer (c.1489–1525) executed

1528

The Reformation adopted in Berne

1529

The Diet of Speyer; reforming members (six princes and fourteen cities) make a formal protestatio against the Catholic majority (hence the term ‘Protestant’)

1530

The Diet of Augsburg; Lutherans present the Confession of Augsburg drafted by Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560); Denmark adopts a Lutheran creed

1534

The Act of Supremacy in England

1535

Execution of Thomas More (1478–1535)

1536

John Calvin’s Institutes

1539

King Henry VIII’s (of England) (r. 1509–47) The Great Bible printed

1543

The first printed Latin translation of the Qur’an (based on Robert of Ketton’s twelfth-century text) published by Theodore Bibliander (1509–64) in Basel

1553–8

Catholic reaction in England under Queen Mary Tudor (r. 1553–8)

1555

The Peace of Augsburg establishes the principle of ‘cuius regio, eius religio’ (‘whose realm, his religion’)

1559

First National Synod of the French Reformed Church

1560

John Knox (c.1514–72) establishes a reformed church in Scotland

1561

The Belgic Reformed Confession adopted in Antwerp

1564

Decrees of Council of Trent confirmed by Pope Pius IV (1559–65) (the first of the Counter-Reformation popes)

1565

Publication of the Shulhan Arukh by Joseph Caro (1488–1575), the most authoritative Code of Jewish Law

1573–81

Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople (1572–9; 1580–4; 1587–95) meets and corresponds with Lutheran theologians Jakob Andreae (1528–90) and Martin Crusius (1524–1607) from Tübingen

1574

Calvinist University of Leiden established in Holland

1589

Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople (1572–9; 1580–4; 1587–95) visits Moscow; the Church of Russia becomes a Patriarchate

1593

King Henry IV of France (r. 1589–1610) becomes a Catholic, ending the wars of religion

1593

Sweden adopts the Lutheran Augsburg Confession

1596

The Council of Brest-Litovsk declares that the majority of Orthodox in Ukraine are ‘Uniates’ (joined with Rome); Greek Catholic churches established in other predominantly Orthodox territories

1598

The Edict of Nantes gives guarantees to French Protestants

1600

Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) burnt in Rome

1609–14

Moriscos expelled from Iberia

1629

The Eastern Confession of the Christian Faith. attributed to Patriarch Cyril I Loukaris of Constantinople (1612; 1620–3; 1623–3; 1633–4; 1634–5; 1637–8) and influenced by Calvinism, published in Geneva; a Greek translation appears in Constantinople in 1631

1642

The Council of Iaşi condemns Loukaris’ Eastern Confession of the Christian Faith and approves with revisions the alternative of Peter of Mohyla, Metropolitan of Kyiv

1648

The Peace of Westphalia ends Thirty Years’ War

1656

Jewish resettlement in England

1660

Restoration of King Charles II (r. 1660–85) and the Anglican Church in England

1666–7

Schism of the Old Believers in Russia

1670

Blaise Pascal’s (1623–1662) Pensées published posthumously

1672

The Council of Jerusalem, led by Patriarch Dositheus II of Jerusalem (1669–1707), rejects the 1629 Eastern Confession of the Christian Faith and issues a Confession condemning Calvinist doctrines

1683

Battle of Vienna representing the westernmost limit of Ottoman advance

1685

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1598) and the Huguenot exodus from France

c.1700–60

Israel ben Eliezer (Baal Shev Tov), founder of Jewish Hasidism

1703–91

John Wesley, leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism

1721

Emperor Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725) abolishes the Moscow Patriarchate and places the Church under the ‘Holy Synod’

1724

Church of Utrecht (Jansenist connections) separates from Rome

1734

Voltaire publishes Lettres philosophiques

1762

Jean-Jacques Rousseau publishes Emile

1773

Dissolution of the Jesuit order by Pope Clement XIV (1769–74)

1774

Treaty of Kuçuk Kainarci between the Russian and Ottoman empires

1781

Emperor Joseph II’s (r. 1765–90) Patent of Toleration granting limited freedom of worship to non-Roman Catholic Christians

1782

Philokalia, a collection of monastic texts of major Hesychasts, compiled by the Greek monk Nikodimos and Makarios, Bishop of Corinth, published in Venice

1783

Treaties of Versailles end French and Spanish hostilities against Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War; American Independence

1787

Legalization of Protestant marriages in France

1789–99

The French Revolution

1790

The National Assembly in France forbids the taking of monastic vows

1791

Emancipation of the Jews in France

1792–1802

French Revolutionary Wars

1793

Translation of Philokalia into Slavonic

1793–4

Terror and ‘Dechristianization’ in France

1798

Expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt provoking ‘Orientalism’ and the Islamic reformist movement; Napoleon becomes First Consul of France in 1799 and Emperor in 1804 (r. 1804–14; 1815)

1801

Napoleon Bonaparte’s Concordat with Rome

1805

Serbian revolt against Ottoman rule

1807

Slave trade becomes illegal in Britain

1814

Slave trade becomes illegal in Holland

1814

Restoration of the Jesuit order by Pope Pius VII (1800–23)

1817

Union of Lutherans and Calvinists in Prussia and other German states

1818

First Reformed Jewish congregation established in Hamburg

1821

Greek revolt against Ottoman rule; execution of Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople (1797–8; 1806–8; 1818–21)

1830

Hussein Dey (1765–1838), Ottoman ruler of the Regency of Algiers, surrenders to the French army, initiating French colonization of North Africa

1832

Autonomy of the Serbian Orthodox Church

1834

Official abolition of the Spanish Inquisition

1840

‘Damascus Affair’ revives medieval blood libel charge, directed against the Jewish community of the city

1848

Pope Pius IX (1846–78) flees to Gaete (in Naples) due to pressure from Italian nationalists and newly declared Roman Republic (1849); returns to Rome in 1850

1848

Slavery forbidden in all French territories

1850

Re-establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales

1852

Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Greece

1854

Papal bull issued by Pius IX establishes the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary as an article of Catholic faith

1858

Visions of Bernadette at Lourdes

1859

Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species

1864

Pope Pius IX publishes Quanta cura and the attached Syllabus errorum; high point in the opposition between Catholicism and liberalism

1867

First Lambeth Conference of the Bishops of the Anglican Communion

1868

Benjamin Disraeli who converted to Christianity as a child, becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1868; 1874–80), the first leader of Jewish descent of a government in Europe

1869–70

First Vatican Council; decree of papal infallibility

1871

Formation of the Old Catholic Church

1871

Disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Ireland

1872

The Patriarchate of Constantinople condemns phyletism or ethnophyletism (i.e. applying the principle of ethnicity to church structures), in response to the emergence of the Bulgarian Exarchate

1875

World Alliance of Reformed and Presbyterian Churches formed in London

1879

Autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church

1879–82

Jules Ferry (1832–93) promotes secular education in France

1881

Pogroms break out against the Jews in Russia

1885

Autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church

1890

The term ‘Zionism’ coined by Nathan Birnbaum (1864–1937), an Austrian Jewish publicist

1891

Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903) publishes Rerum Novarum on the social problem

1894–9

‘Dreyfus Affair’ in France

1897

First Zionist Congress convened in Basel, Switzerland

1903

The Kishinev pogrom against the Jewish community in Bessarabia; second pogrom in 1905

1905

Separation of church and state in France; the state seizes church property

1914–18

First World War

1914–23

Armenian Genocide

1917

The Balfour Declaration issued by the British government supporting a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ in Palestine

1917

Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate restored

1917–18

The Council of the Russian Orthodox Church and the re-establishment of the Moscow Patriarchate

1918

Decree on the separation of church and state in the Soviet Union

1920

Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate re-established

1924

Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Caliphate

1924

Autonomy of the Finnish and Polish Orthodox churches

1925

Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate established

1927

Legion of the Archangel Michael (the Iron Guard), a fascist movement demanding a return to Orthodox Christian values, founded in Romania

1928

Hassan al-Banna (1906–49) founds the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt

1929

Lateran Treaty, Rome

1932–67

Karl Barth (1886–1968) publishes the four-volume Church Dogmatics (Die Kirchliche Dogmatik)

1933

Adolf Hitler comes to power in Germany (1933–45); Nazi boycott of Jewish business and Jews excluded from the civil service; anti-Semitic statements lead to the emigration of many Jews

1934

Creation of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany, in defiance of the Nazi-sponsored church

1937

Autocephaly of the Albanian Orthodox Church

1939–45

Second World War; millions of Jews murdered and Jewish communities dislocated and destroyed across Europe

1943

Concordat between the Russian Orthodox Church and Stalin

1946–56

Discovery of ancient Jewish religious manuscripts (the Dead Sea Scrolls) (c.408 bce–318 ce) in the Qumran Caves in the West Bank

1947

Abolition of the Eastern-rite (Uniate) Catholic Church in the Soviet Union

1948

The State of Israel declares itself an independent Jewish state

1948

World Council of Churches established in Amsterdam

1948

Formation of the Evangelical Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD): a federation of the Protestant churches in East and West Germany; East German churches forced to leave by communist authorities in 1969

1950

The Schuman Declaration leads to the European Coal and Steel Community, the first supranational institution in post-war Europe

1950

Pope Pius XII (1939–58) proclaims the Virgin Mary’s bodily assumption an article of Catholic faith

1953

Recognition of the Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarchate by the Patriarchate of Constantinople

1955

Istanbul pogrom against the Christian Greek minority

1956

Independence of Tunisia and Morocco

1956

Cardinal József Mindszenty (1945–73), leader of the Catholic Church, granted asylum in the US Legation in Budapest until 1971

1957

Treaty of Rome signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany

1958–64

Anti-religious campaign under Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1953–64)

1961–89

The Berlin Wall, a physical symbol of ideological divisions between East and West

1961

The Russian Orthodox Church joins the World Council of Churches, together with most Orthodox churches, but not the Roman Catholic Church

1962

Independence of Algeria

1962–5

Second Vatican Council: Catholicism’s opening towards the modern world, including the promulgation of Nostra Aetate (1965) paving the way for improved dialogue with non-Catholic religions

1964

Pope Paul VI (1963–78) declares Benedict of Nursia as ‘Patron Saint of all Europe’. Between 1980 and 1999, Pope John Paul II proclaims five additional patron saints of all Europe: Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

1965

Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration lifting the 1054 excommunications between the Roman Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

1966

Archbishop Ramsey of Canterbury (1961–74) visits Pope Paul VI in Rome

1967

Reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty following territorial conquests in the ‘Six-Day War’

1968

The papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, reiterating the Church’s ban on artificial methods of birth control

1968

Pope Paul VI becomes the first pope to visit Latin America where he inaugurates the Medellín bishops’ conference in Colombia with Protestant observers in attendance

1970

World Alliance of Reformed Churches (Presbyterian and Congregational) created

1978

Election of Karol Wojtyła from Poland as Pope John Paul II (1978–2005)

1979

Nobel Peace Prize to Mother Teresa (1910–97) for work with the destitute in Calcutta

1979

The Iranian Revolution

1980–9

Catholic support for Poland’s Solidarity movement

1984

The Vatican mediates a Chile–Argentina boundary dispute (one of many papal mediations in Latin America)

1984

Father Jerzy Popiełuszko (1947–84), a Roman Catholic priest associated with the Solidarity movement, murdered in Poland

1988

Millennium celebrations of Russian Christianity and prospects of increased toleration of religion by the Soviet state

1988

Salman Rushdie publishes The Satanic Verses

1988–2020

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

1989

Mgr. Marcel Lefebvre (1905–91), a traditionalist Catholic, excommunicated by the Vatican for consecrating four bishops

1989

Weekly prayer for peace at St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig leads to non-violent demonstrations in the city; East German exodus to West Germany and fall of the Berlin Wall

1989

Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985–91) meets with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican; the Ukrainian Eastern-rite (Uniate) Catholic Church authorized in the Soviet Union

1989

Action of the Romanian dictatorship against a Protestant pastor, sparks the rising in Timişoara; Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife executed on Christmas Day; the fall of the communist regime in Romania

1989

Christian ceremonies take place in all Eastern bloc countries

1989

Start of the headscarf controversy (l’affaire du foulard) in France

1990

Anti-Armenian pogrom in Baku, Azerbaijan

1990

Hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews able to leave the country and move to Israel

1990

The German Democratic Republic ceases to exist; its territories join the Federal Republic of Germany

1991

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

1991–2001

Yugoslav Wars leading to the break-up of former Yugoslavia along ethnic and religious lines

1991

Relations between Rome and the Orthodox churches worsen over alleged proselytism in Eastern Europe and property claims of the Uniate churches

1991

Meissen Agreement between the Church of England and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)

1991–2002

Civil war between the Algerian state and Islamist groups

1992

The Maastricht Treaty, the foundation treaty of the European Union, signed by twelve Member States of the European Communities

1992

The assembly of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland, a new ecumenical body which includes Catholics, meets for the first time

1992

Catholic and Orthodox leaders in Yugoslavia appeal jointly for a cessation of war and ethnic cleansing

1992

The General Synod of the Church of England votes to ordain women to the priesthood; first ordinations in 1994

1993

The Balamand declaration, a report of the Roman Catholic Church and nine Orthodox churches which aims to improve relations between them

1994

Porvoo Communion of fifteen Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches in Europe

1994

Yasser Arafat (Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, 1969–2004), Yitzhak Rabin (Prime Minister of Israel, 1974–7; 1992–5) and Shimon Peres (Foreign Minister of Israel, 1986–8; 1992–5) share the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords

1995

Bombing in the Paris Métro relating to the civil war in Algeria

2000

The Moscow Patriarchate publishes The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church

2004

French law prohibits the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools—Muslim headscarves, Sikh turbans, Jewish skullcaps (kippah), and large Christian crosses

2004

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and Malta and Cyprus join the European Union; enlargement continues with Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and Croatia in 2013

2005

Election of Pope Benedict XVI (2005–13), who resigns in 2013 taking the title of ‘pope emeritus’

2007

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia signs the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate, after eighty years of separation

2009

Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) introduced by the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon (signed in 2007) institutionalizes an ‘open, regular and transparent dialogue’ between the European institutions and religious and philosophical communities

2011

Lautsi v. Italy case ruled that that crucifixes displayed in school classrooms do not violate the European Convention on Human Rights

2011

The Arab Spring spreads across the Middle East and North Africa; war breaks out in Syria

2013

Election of Pope Francis I, an Argentinean—the first modern non-European pope

2014

A self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known also under the Arabic acronym Daesh) attracts Western European fighters; large number of Christian and Yazidi communities destroyed

2014

Russia’s takeover of Crimea and the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine

2015

Hundreds of thousands of refugees travel from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe

2015

Pope Francis publishes Laudato Si’ on the environment

2016

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church takes place in Crete

2018-9

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine officially recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople; the Russian Orthodox Church breaks off relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate

2019

The United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel

2020

The United Kingdom leaves the European Union, following 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic reaches Europe; religious buildings closed for worship and other gatherings

2020

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul reopens as a mosque, reversing the 1935 decision of the secular Turkish Republic which declared it a museum

2020

The Ecumenical Patriarchate publishes For the Life of the World: Towards a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church

2020

Pope Francis publishes Fratelli tutti on global solidarity, the COVID-19 pandemic, and racism