Papacy
The popes and the papal court as an institution of religious and political power, including the councils that tried to reunite or reform the Church.
Category: Society, Culture
- 382 – 405Jerome translates the Bible into Latin: the Vulgate
Commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382, Jerome revises the Latin Gospels and later translates the Old Testament from Hebrew, finishing by 405 in Bethlehem. He doubted the status of the deuterocanonical books.
- c. 1205Stephen Langton's chapter divisions shape the modern Bible
Around 1205 the English theologian Stephen Langton divides the Vulgate into the chapters still used in most Bibles. They spread through the Paris Bibles of the 13th century. Verse numbers come only in the 1550s.
- c. 1215Aristotle enters the Paris arts course
Robert de Courçon's 1215 statutes for Paris require Aristotle's logic and make the Ethics optional, while metaphysics and natural philosophy stay barred. By about 1254-55 the arts masters are to lecture on the New Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics and natural works.
- 1265Aquinas joins Aristotle to Christian doctrine
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274), who studied under Albertus Magnus, seeks to combine Aristotelian philosophy with Christian principles. He writes the unfinished Summa Theologiae (1265-74) and, in Paris (1268-72), On the Unity of the Intellect against the Averroists.
- March 7, 1277Tempier condemns 219 propositions at Paris
On 7 March 1277 Bishop Étienne Tempier condemns 219 propositions, mainly from Aristotle and Averroes, after a narrower 1270 ban on 13. Twenty are Thomistic, which hurts Aquinas's reputation for years; the condemnation is later partly annulled as far as it touched him.
- September 1303French agents seize Pope Boniface VIII at Anagni
Agents of Philip IV of France and the Colonna family attacked Boniface VIII at Anagni and held him for days. The pope died soon after, marking the shift of power from papacy to the French crown.
- 1309Clement V moves the papal court to Avignon
The French pope Clement V settled the papacy at Avignon, beginning a period (1309-1376) in which the popes were widely seen as under French royal influence.
- November 1344Pope Clement VI grants the Canary Islands to Luis de la Cerda as 'Prince of Fortune'
In November 1344 Clement VI gives the islands, still unconquered, to the Castilian noble Luis de la Cerda with the title Prince of Fortune. A January 1345 bull makes the conquest a crusade, but Luis dies in 1348 without leading one.
- January 17, 1377Gregory XI returns the papacy from Avignon to Rome
Pope Gregory XI, who left Avignon in September 1376, enters Rome on 17 January 1377, ending the papal residence in France. He dies fourteen months later, and the disputed election that follows splits the Church.
- September 20, 1378The Western Schism begins with two rival popes
After the cardinals elect Urban VI in April 1378, dissident cardinals meeting at Fondi elect Clement VII on 20 September. Two popes, in Rome and Avignon, claim the Church's obedience until 1417.
- November 16, 1414 – April 22, 1418The Council of Constance meets to end the Western Schism
Convened in 1414, when three men claimed to be pope, the council sidelines all three and elects Martin V in 1417. It also has the Czech reformer Jan Hus burned for heresy on 6 July 1415.
- November 11, 1417Martin V is elected pope, ending the Western Schism
At Constance on 11 November 1417, 23 cardinals and 30 council delegates elect Oddone Colonna as Martin V, reuniting the Church under one pope. He enters Rome in September 1420.
- January 13, 1435Pope Eugene IV orders the release of enslaved Canary Islanders in Sicut dudum
Eugene IV issues Sicut dudum on 13 January 1435, threatening excommunication for those who keep Canarians enslaved after Christian conversion. It follows Creator omnium and is partly reversed for Portugal in 1436.
- 1438Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges asserts royal control of the French church
Charles VII issued an ordinance limiting papal authority in France and giving the crown and French clergy control of church appointments and revenues.
- July 6, 1439The Council of Florence proclaims the union of the Latin and Greek churches
On 6 July 1439 Pope Eugene IV and Emperor John VIII Palaiologos sign the decree Laetentur caeli at Florence. The East rejected it, and it never took effect, even after Constantinople fell in 1453.
- 1459 – 1460Pius II calls the Congress of Mantua to organise a crusade
Pope Pius II gathers European princes at Mantua to answer the Ottoman advance; the crusade he proclaims in January 1460 for three years stays largely on paper.
- 1473 – August 15, 1483Sixtus IV builds the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican
Built for Pope Sixtus IV between 1473 and 1481, the chapel receives wall frescoes by Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli in 1481–82. It is consecrated on 15 August 1483.
- June 15, 1475Sixtus IV formally establishes the Vatican Library
By the bull Ad decorem militantis ecclesiae of 15 June 1475, Sixtus IV formally founds the Vatican Library. It grew from the Greek, Latin and Hebrew codices that Nicholas V gathered from 1451.
- 1478Ferdinand and Isabella obtain papal approval for a Spanish Inquisition
In 1478 the Catholic Monarchs request, and Pope Sixtus IV approves, an Inquisition in Castile under royal control, aimed at conversos suspected of secretly practising Judaism. Sources date its start to 1478, 1480 or 1483.
- April 26, 1478The Pazzi conspiracy strikes the Medici in Florence Cathedral
On 26 April 1478, conspirators backed by Pope Sixtus IV kill Giuliano de' Medici at High Mass; Lorenzo survives. Sixtus excommunicates Lorenzo (1 June) and puts Florence under interdict (20 June).
- June 21, 1481Pope Sixtus IV confirms the Alcáçovas division in the bull Aeterni regis
Sixtus IV issues Aeterni regis on 21 June 1481, confirming the Treaty of Alcáçovas, including Portugal's rights to African lands. John II of Portugal later cites it against Columbus's claims.
- June 1489Josquin des Prez joins the papal choir in Rome
The Franco-Flemish composer Josquin des Prez, previously in the service of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza in Milan, sang in the papal choir from June 1489 until at least 1494 under Innocent VIII and Alexander VI.
- August 11, 1492Rodrigo Borgia is elected Pope Alexander VI
Rodrigo Borgia is elected pope on 11 August 1492 after a costly conclave, amid rumours of vote-buying that were never proven. His son Cesare Borgia later employed Leonardo da Vinci as a military engineer.
- May 4, 1493Pope Alexander VI issues Inter caetera granting Castile lands in the west
On 4 May 1493 Pope Alexander VI grants the Catholic Monarchs the lands discovered or to be discovered west and south of a line near the Azores and Cape Verde. It is revised by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494.
- May 23, 1498Savonarola is hanged and burned in Florence
Excommunicated by Alexander VI in May 1497 and arrested after a failed trial by fire in April 1498, Girolamo Savonarola and two fellow friars are hanged and burned in Florence's main square on 23 May 1498.
- November 1, 1503Giuliano della Rovere is elected Pope Julius II
Giuliano della Rovere is elected pope on 1 November 1503. He will lay the foundation of a new St. Peter's in 1506, commission Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling in 1508 and convene the Fifth Lateran Council in 1512.
- April 18, 1506Julius II lays the foundation stone of the new St. Peter's Basilica
On 18 April 1506 Pope Julius II lays the foundation stone of a new basilica in Rome, to Donato Bramante's design. It replaces the fourth-century church of Constantine, which had stood for more than a thousand years.
- 1508 – October 31, 1512Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling for Julius II
Commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508, Michelangelo paints nine scenes from Genesis, with prophets and sibyls, on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The full work is unveiled on 31 October 1512.
- May 3, 1512 – March 16, 1517The Fifth Lateran Council meets in Rome
Called by Julius II in response to a rival council at Pisa, the council (3 May 1512–16 March 1517) annuls Pisa and sets reforms such as a minimum age of 30 for bishops. Few of its decrees were put into practice.
- March 9, 1513Giovanni de' Medici is elected Pope Leo X
Giovanni de' Medici, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and a cardinal since the age of 13, is elected pope on 9 March 1513. He backs Raphael's work in the Vatican and on St. Peter's.
- August 18, 1516Concordat of Bologna between Francis I and Pope Leo X
The agreement let the king of France nominate bishops and abbots, with the pope confirming them. It gave the crown lasting control over the French church, which stayed Catholic through the Reformation.
- June 1519 – July 1519Luther is drawn into the Leipzig Debate with Johann Eck
In June and July 1519 Johann Eck debates Andreas Karlstadt and then Martin Luther at Leipzig's Pleissenburg castle. It widens to purgatory, indulgences and papal authority, and leads Leo X to censure Luther in 1520.
- December 10, 1520Luther burns the papal bull Exsurge Domine at Wittenberg
Leo X's bull of 15 June 1520 condemned 41 propositions from Luther's writings and gave him sixty days to recant. On 10 December Luther burns it publicly at Wittenberg's Elster Gate, and is excommunicated in January 1521.
- October 1521Pope Leo X names Henry VIII Defender of the Faith
Leo X grants Henry VIII the title for his Assertio septem sacramentorum, which defends the sacraments and papal authority against early Protestant ideas. The pope later revokes it, and Parliament restores it by statute in 1543.
- November 19, 1523Giulio de' Medici is elected Pope Clement VII
Giulio de' Medici is elected pope on 19 November 1523. Under the Peace of Barcelona of 1529 Charles V agrees to restore the Medici in Florence, and Clement installs his nephew Alessandro as duke in 1530.
- May 6, 1527Imperial troops sack Rome and besiege Clement VII
On 6 May 1527 the unpaid army of Charles V, with some 14,000 German Landsknechts and 6,000 Spanish soldiers, storms Rome. Clement VII surrenders on 6 June and agrees to a 400,000-ducat ransom. The sack is often called the end of the High Renaissance.
- February 24, 1530Clement VII crowns Charles V Holy Roman Emperor at Bologna
Pope Clement VII crowns Charles V Holy Roman Emperor at Bologna on 24 February 1530. Charles is the last emperor to receive a papal coronation.
- May 23, 1533Cranmer declares Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon void
On 23 May 1533 Thomas Cranmer, consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury that March, rules Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon invalid. He crowns Anne Boleyn queen on 1 June.
- November 3, 1534The Act of Supremacy makes Henry VIII head of the Church of England
Parliament passes the Act of Supremacy on 3 November 1534, declaring Henry VIII 'the only supreme head on Earth of the Church of England' and ending papal authority; royal assent follows on 18 December. A Treason Act punishes denial.
- 1536 – 1541Michelangelo paints the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo paints the Last Judgment on the Sistine Chapel's altar wall between 1536 and 1541, begun for Clement VII and completed under Paul III. Critics attack its nudity, and Daniele da Volterra later paints drapery over nearly 40 figures.
- 1537Pope Paul III declares in Sublimis Deus that the Indigenous peoples of the Americas are rational beings
In 1537 Paul III issues Sublimis Deus, saying the Indians are fully human, may not be enslaved and should be converted peacefully. Las Casas's writing and Dominican allies helped bring it about.
- March 9, 1537Cardinals present Paul III with the Consilium de emendanda ecclesia
A commission of cardinals under Gasparo Contarini reads its report on Church abuses to Paul III on 9 March 1537, criticising papal fiscal abuses and simony. It is never implemented; it leaks in 1538, and Luther publishes it with sarcastic notes.
- September 27, 1540Paul III approves the Society of Jesus
Paul III confirms the Society of Jesus on 27 September 1540 with the bull Regimini militantis ecclesiae. Ignatius of Loyola and his six companions found an order devoted to missions and teaching, with a special obedience to the pope.
- 1542Paul III founds the Roman Inquisition
In 1542 Paul III founds the Roman Inquisition to prosecute heresy, at the urging of Giovanni Pietro Carafa, later Paul IV, after the failed Regensburg Colloquy of 1541. It targets Protestantism in Italy and later tries Giordano Bruno and Galileo.
- December 13, 1545The Council of Trent opens to answer the Protestant Reformation
The Council of Trent opens on 13 December 1545 in northern Italy. It meets in three periods until 1563 and issues decrees on scripture, tradition, justification and the sacraments, while most Protestants stay away.
- April 8, 1546The Council of Trent defines the canon of Scripture
On 8 April 1546, in its fourth session, the Council of Trent lists the sacred books as found in the Vulgate, including the deuterocanonical books that Protestants reject, and treats tradition as a source beside Scripture.
- 1551Palestrina becomes choirmaster of the Cappella Giulia, St Peter's
Pope Julius III appointed Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina maestro di cappella of the Cappella Giulia in Rome in 1551. In 1554 he dedicated to the pope his first book of Masses.
- November 30, 1554England is reconciled with Rome under Mary I
On 30 November 1554 Cardinal Pole absolves Parliament and the realm of heresy and schism. The Second Statute of Repeal, introduced on 26 December, reunites England with Rome after Henry VIII's break.
- May 23, 1555Giovanni Pietro Carafa is elected Pope Paul IV
Giovanni Pietro Carafa is elected pope on 23 May 1555, taking the name Paul IV. A founding Inquisitor, he strengthens the Roman Inquisition, issues the Index of forbidden books and restricts the Jews of Rome.
- July 1555Paul IV's bull Cum nimis absurdum creates the Roman Ghetto
In July 1555 Paul IV's bull Cum nimis absurdum requires Rome's roughly 2,000 Jews to live in a walled ghetto locked at night, wear yellow hats and accept limits on trades and property. Sources date it 14 or 17 July.
- 1559Paul IV's Index bans the complete works of about 550 authors
The 1559 Index issued under Paul IV bans the entire works of about 550 authors, including Erasmus, Machiavelli, Aretino and Rabelais, and unapproved Bible editions. An earlier Roman list of 1557 had been withdrawn; Trent's revised Index followed in 1564.
- December 4, 1563The Council of Trent closes and Pius IV confirms its decrees
The Council of Trent ends on 4 December 1563 after 25 sessions in three periods, and Pius IV confirms its decrees on 26 January 1564. It issued 17 dogmatic decrees that shaped Catholic doctrine, liturgy and censorship.
- 1569Cosimo I de' Medici becomes the first Grand Duke of Tuscany
Pope Pius V raises Cosimo I de' Medici to Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569, giving the Medici a higher rank. Sources differ on the day (Cosimo's article gives 21 August).
- October 7, 1571Holy League defeats the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto
A Holy League of Spain, Venice and the papacy under Don John of Austria destroys most of the Ottoman fleet off western Greece. The league then falls apart and the Ottomans rebuild.
- 1590 – 1592Sixtus V and Clement VIII issue an official Vulgate
Pope Sixtus V's 1590 Vulgate, the first papally authorized edition, is halted after his death and recalled in 1592 for errors. Clement VIII's revision replaces it and stays the Catholic standard text.
- April 1606 – April 1607Paul V places Venice under interdict
In April 1606 Pope Paul V lays an interdict on Venice after it asserts control over its clergy and church property. Venice, backed by Paolo Sarpi, resists, and French mediation ends the quarrel in April 1607.
- 1648Pope Innocent X declares the Westphalian settlement void
Innocent X condemns the peace as "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane" and without effect for all time. The page gives no date for the brief, so only the year is shown.
- September 30, 1943Pius XII's Divino afflante Spiritu endorses critical Bible study
On 30 September 1943 Pope Pius XII's encyclical urges Catholic translations from the original Hebrew and Greek rather than the Vulgate, and permits textual and historical-critical methods.
- November 18, 1965Vatican II's Dei Verbum calls for wide access to Scripture
On 18 November 1965 Paul VI promulgates Dei Verbum, Vatican II's constitution on divine revelation. It asks that easy access to Scripture be given to all the faithful and supports translations into many languages.