Reformation time line

1436 — Johannes Gutenberg invents

movable-type printing press.

1455 — Gutenberg Bible printed.

1481 — Spanish Inquisition against Jews,

Muslims and heretics begins.

1483 — Martin Luther born in Eisleben,

Nov. 10; baptized Nov. 11.

1492 — Columbus reaches the Americas. 1499 — Katharina von Bora (Luther’s

wife) born in Lippendorf, Jan. 29.

1501 — Luther enters University of Erfurt (receives master of arts in philosophy, 1505).

1502 — Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, founds University of Wittenberg.

1505 — Luther in thunderstorm, July 2;

enters monastery, July 17.

1506 — Pope Julius II lays cornerstone of St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome; Luther takes final vows as Augustinian Monk, autumn.

1507 — Luther ordained priest at Erfurt Cathedral, April 3; Luther celebrates first Mass, May 2; Luther begins study of theology.

1508 — Michelangelo begins painting

Sistine Chapel, completed 1512.

1509 — Luther obtains bachelor of theology degree, March 9, returns to Erfurt; Henry VIII becomes king of England. 1510 — First African slaves brought to the

New World (Haiti).

1511 — Luther sent to Wittenberg University to serve as professor, takes over chair of Staupitz at Wittenberg.

1512 — Luther awarded doctor of theology degree, Oct. 18–19.

1513 — Ponce de Leon reaches Florida;

Pope Leo X begins pontificate, March 11. 1517 — Pope Leo X declares indulgence for rebuilding of St. Peter’s; Luther nails 95 Theses to Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Oct. 31.

1518 — Process against Luther begins

in Rome.

1521 —Luther excommunicated by papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, Jan. 3; Luther appears before Diet of Worms and refuses to recant, April 17–18; Charles V issues Edict of Worms, declaring Luther a public outlaw and criminal and making it illegal to have Luther’s books, May 25; Frederick the Wise hides Luther at the Wartburg Castle for eleven months; Luther translates New Testament into German, from December to March 1522.

1523 —Escaped nuns from Nimbschen, including Katharina von Bora (Luther’s future wife), arrive in Wittenberg, April 7. 1525 — Luther marries Katharina von Bora, June 13; Luther’s German Mass first used, Dec. 25. 1526 — Hans Luther born (first child of

six to Luther and Katharina), June 7. 1527 — Plague strikes Wittenberg; the

Luthers turn their home into a hospital. 1528 — Luther writes his Confession concerning Christ’s Supper.

1529 — Second Diet of Speyer, April, results in the issue of the Protestio, hence giving rise to the label “Protestant,” which the Romanists applied to all who agreed with Luther; Luther publishes Large Catechism, April, and Small Catechism, May.

1531 — Comet appears, eventually

known as “Halley’s Comet.”

1533 —English King Henry VIII excommunicated, July 11.

1534 — Ignatius of Loyola founds Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Aug. 15; Henry VIII declares himself to be head of the Church of England.

1536 — Henry VIII allows English Bible in

England.

1539 — Catholic counter reformation begins in earnest.

1541 — De Soto reaches the Mississippi

River, May 8.

1543 — Spanish Catholics begin to burn

Protestants at the stake.

1545 — Council of Trent’s first sessions,

1545–1547.

1546 — Luther dies at Eisleben, Feb. 18; Luther is buried at Castle Church in Wittenberg, Feb. 22.

1551 — Council of Trent holds more sessions, 1551–1552.

1555 — Peace of Augsburg allows Lutherans equal rights in Holy Roman Empire; Pope Paul IV begins pontificate, makes stamping out Protestantism high priority. 1559 — John Knox brings Calvinism to

Scotland.

1563 — Council of Trent ends, settling Roman doctrine and establishing Roman Catholic Church.

1577 — Francis Drake begins circumnavigating globe.

1582 — Gregorian calendar implemented

by Pope Gregory XIII.

1586 —Colony of Roanoke established in

Virginia.

1595 — Rene Descartes, a key leader of

the Enlightenment, born, March 31. 1598 — French King Henry IV grants religious freedom to Protestants via Edict of Nantes, April 13.

1600 — First performance of Hamlet at

Globe Theater.

1618 — Thirty Years’ War begins.

1997 — Lutheran and Catholics sign Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.