Timeline of Church History

The History of the Church is a vital part of the Orthodox Christian faith. Orthodox Christians are defined significantly by their continuity with all those who have gone before, those who first received and preached the truth of Jesus Christ to the world, those who helped to formulate the expression and worship of our faith, and those who continue to move forward in the unchanging yet ever-dynamic Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church.

Apostolic era (33-100)

• 33 The Holy Spirit descends on the day of Pentecost, filling the followers of Jesus Christ with power from on high.
• 34 St. Peter founds the See of Antioch.
• 37 St. Joseph of Arimathea travels to Britain and lands in Glastonbury.
• 49 Apostolic Council of Jerusalem rules that Gentiles do not have to become Jews before becoming Christians.
• 50 The Apostle Matthew finishes the Gospel of Matthew in Aramaic.
• 62 Martyrdom of Apostle James the Just, the Lord's brother and bishop of Jerusalem.
• 63 St. Aristobulus consecrated as first Bishop of Britain.
• 64-67 Persecution of Christians by Emperor Nero.
• 64 Martyrdom of the Apostle Paul in Rome.
• 67 Martyrdom of the Apostle Peter in Rome; Apostle Linus elected first bishop of Rome.
• 68 Suicide of Emperor Nero.
• 69 St. Ignatius of Antioch consecrated to the episcopacy in Antioch.
• 70 Apostle Mark writes his Gospel; the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Romans; expulsion of the Christians from the synagogues.
• 71 Apostle Mark introduces Christianity to Egypt.
• 75 Judea, Galilea and Samaria are renamed Palaestina by the Romans.
• 80 Gospel of Luke written by the Apostle Luke; Jewish historian (and former general) Josephus writes the Antiquities.
• 85 Acts of the Apostles is composed by the Apostle Luke.
• 95 Apostle John writes the Book of Revelation.
• 96-98 Persecution of Christians under Emperor Domitian.
• 96 Gospel of John written by that apostle as a supplement and further theological illumination of the Synoptic Gospels.
• 100 Death of the Apostle John the Theologian.

Ante-Nicene era (100-325)

• 107 Martyrdom of Ignatius of Antioch.
• 130 Conversion of Justin Martyr.
• 132 Jews, led by Bar Kochba, whom some identify as the Messiah, revolt against Rome.
• 135 Christmas instituted as a holy day in Rome.
• 136 Emperor Hadrian crushes the Jewish resistance, forbids Jews from ever entering Jerusalem, and changes the name of the city to Aelia Capitolina; first recorded use of the title Pope for the bishop of Rome by Pope Hyginus.
• 144 Excommunication of Marcion for his heretical rejection of the Old Testament and for his semi-Gnostic teachings, particularly Docetism.
• 150 St. Justin Martyr describes the Divine Liturgy.
• 155 Martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna.
• 156 Beginning of Montanism.
• 165 Martyrdom of Justin.
• 180 St. Irenaeus of Lyons writes Against Heresies.
• 190 Pantaenus founds the Catechetical School at Alexandria.
• 197 Quartodeciman controversy.
• 200 Martyrdom of St. Irenaeus of Lyons.
• 203 Emperor Septimus Severus issues an edict against Christianity and Judaism.
• 206 King Abgar IX converts Edessa to Christianity.
• 215 Conversion of Tertullian to Montanism.
• 225 Death of Tertullian.
• 232 Heraclas becomes Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria on the death of Demetrius.
• 246 Paul of Thebes retreats to the Egyptian desert and becomes the first Christian hermit.
• 249-251 Persecution under the Emperor Decius.
• 251-253 Persecution under Emperor Gaius.
• 253-260 Persecution under Emperor Valerian.
• 260 Paul of Samosata begins his heretical preaching against the divinity of Christ.
• 264 Excommunication of Paul of Samosata.
• 284 Diocletian ascends the Roman imperial throne, and begins the most severe persecution against the Christians. During his reign, an estimated 1 million martyrs are slain for Christ.
• 285 St. Anthony the Great flees to the desert to pursue a life of prayer.
• 301 St. Gregory the Illuminator converts King Tiridates I of Armenia to the Christian faith.
• 304 Alban, protomartyr of Britain, killed by Roman authorities.
• 310 Armenia becomes the first Christian nation.
• 311 Rebellion of the Donatists in Carthage.
• 312 Conversion of Constantine the Great, who defeats Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge and becomes Emperor of the West.
• 313 The Edict of Milan is issued by St. Constantine the Great and his co-emperor Licinius, officially declaring religious freedom in the Roman Empire and specifically naming toleration for Christianity.
• 314 Condemnation of Donatism as a heresy.
• 318 Publication of "De incarnatione" by St Athanasius. This influenced the condemnation of the teaching of Arius
• 318 St. Pachomius the Great, a disciple of Anthony the Great, organizes a community of ascetics at Tabennis in Egypt, founding cenobitic monasticism.
• 320 Expulsion of Arius by St. Alexander of Alexandria.
• 323 Constantine the Great builds a church on the site of the martyrdom of St. Peter in Rome.

Nicene era (325-451)

• 325 First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea, condemning Arianism, setting the Paschalion, and issuing the first version of the Nicene Creed.
• 326 Discovery of the True Cross by the Empress St. Helena.
• 326 King Miraeus of Georgia becomes Christian.
• 328 Athanasius the Great becomes bishop of Alexandria.
• 329 St. Athanasius ordains St. Frumentius (Abba Selama) to the priesthood and commissions him to apostolic work in Ethiopia.
• 330 Amoun and Macarius the Great found monasteries in the Egyptian desert.
• 336 St Athanasius the Great of Alexandria goes into exile in Treves until 338. He told the Europeans about the rule of St Pachomius the Great, thus awakening interest in monasticism in Europe
• 340 Conversion of Wulfila to Arianism, subsequently missionizing the Goths with his heretical doctrine.
• 348 Death of St. Pachomius the Great.
• 350 St. Ninian establishes the church Candida Casa at Whithorn in Galloway, Scotland, beginning the missionary effort to the Picts.
• 356 Death of St. Anthony the Great.
• 358 Basil the Great founds the monastery of Annesos in Pontus, the model for Eastern monasticism.
• 360 St. Martin of Tours founds first French monastery at Liguge.
• 361 Julian the Apostate becomes Roman emperor.
• 367 St. Athanasius of Alexandria writes his Paschal letter, listing for the first time the canon of the New Testament of the Holy Scriptures.
• 373 Death of St Athanasius the Great, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria.
• 374 Election of Ambrose to the episcopacy of Milan.
• 375 St. Basil the Great writes On the Holy Spirit, confirming the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
• 376 Visigoths converted to Arian Christianity.
• 380 Christianity established as the official faith of the Roman Empire by Emperor St. Theodosius the Great.
• 381 Second Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, condemning Macedonianism/Pneumatomachianism and Appollinarianism, declaring the divinity of the Holy Spirit, confirming the previous Ecumenical Council, and completing the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.
• 395 St. Augustine becomes bishop of Hippo.
• 398 St. John Chrysostom becomes Archbishop of Constantinople.
• 400 Translation of the Holy Scriptures into Latin as the Vulgate by St. Jerome.
• 401 St. Augustine of Hippo writes the Confessions.
• 403 Abduction of Patrick to Ireland to serve as a slave; he escapes a while later and returns to Britain.
• 407 Death of John Chrysostom in exile.
• 410 Fall of Rome to the Visigoths.
• 411 Pelagius condemned at a council in Carthage.
• 412 St Cyril succeeds his uncle Theophilus as Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria.
• 415 Pelagius cleared at a synod in Jerusalem and a provincial synod in Diospolis (Lydda); St. John Cassian founds convent at Marseilles.
• 416 Councils in Carthage and Milevis condemn Pelagius and convince Pope Innocent I of Rome to excommunicate him.
• 418 A council in Carthage anathematizes Pelagianism by way of endorsing Augustinian anthropology.
• 426 St. Augustine of Hippo writes The City of God.
• 428 Nestorius becomes patriarch of Constantinople.
• 431 Third Ecumenical Council held in Ephesus, condemning Nestorianism and Pelagianism, confirming the use of the term Theotokos to refer to the Virgin Mary; the council also grants autocephaly to the Church of Cyprus; Palladius is sent by the Pope of Rome as a missionary bishop to Ireland.
• 432 Return of Patrick to Ireland to begin missionary work.
• 433 The Formulary of Peace completes the work of the Third Ecumenical Council by reconciling Cyril of Alexandria with John of Antioch.
• 444 Death of St Cyril, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria.
• 445 Founding of the monastery at Armagh in northern Ireland.
• 449 Robber Synod of Ephesus, presided over by Dioscorus of Alexandria, with an order from the emperor to acquit Eutyches.
• 450 First monasteries established in Wales.

Byzantine era (451-843)

• 451 Fourth Ecumenical Council meets at Chalcedon, condemning Eutychianism and Monophysitism, affirming that Christ has two natures; this eventually led to a schism, with the Church of Alexandria being divided into Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian factions, with a similar schism occurring in the Church of Antioch along with it.
• 452 Proterios of Alexandria (replacement of Dioscorus), convenes synod in Alexandria to reconcile Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian groups.
• 459 Death of Symeon the Stylite.
• 466 Church of Antioch elevates the bishop of Mtskheta to the rank of Catholicos of Kartli, thus rendering the Church of Georgia autocephalous.
• 477 Bishop Timothy ("the Wild Cat") of Alexandria, who opposed the Council of Chalcedon, exiled the Orthodox bishops from Egypt.
• 484 Founding of the Monastery of St. Sabbas in the Judean wilderness; Synod of Beth Papat in Persia declares the Nestorian doctrine as the official theology of the Assyrian Church of the East, centered in Edessa.
• 488 Death of Peter the Fuller, the non-Chalcedonian Patriarch of Antioch.
• 490 St. Brigid founds the monastery of Kildare in Ireland.
• 521 St. Columba is born.
• 529 Pagan University of Athens closed and replaced by Christian university in Constantinople.
• 529 St. Benedict of Nursia founds the monastery of Monte Cassino and codifies Western monasticism; Council of Orange condemns Pelagianism.
• 533 Mercurius is elected Pope of Rome and takes the name of John II, the first pope to change his name upon election.
• 533 Foundation of the Diocese of Selefkia in Central Africa by the Emperor Justinian.
• 534 Roman Empire destroys the Arian kingdom of the Vandals.
• 537 Construction of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople begun by Emperor St. Justinian the Great.
• 541 Jacob Baradeus, bishop of Edessa, organizes the Non-Chalcedonian Church in western Syria (the "Jacobites"), which spreads to Armenia and Egypt (the "Copts").
• 544 Founding of the monastery at Clonmacnoise in Ireland by St. Ciaran.
• 546 St. Columba founds monastery of Derry in Ireland.
• 553 Fifth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople in an attempt to reconcile the Chalcedonians with the non-Chalcedonians— the Three Chapters of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa are condemned for their pro-Nestorian nature, and Origen and his writings are also condemned.
• 556 St. Columba founds the monastery of Durrow in Ireland.
• 563 Consecration of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; St. Columba arrives on Iona and establishes his monastery there.
• 569 Final schism between the Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians in Egypt. Henceforth there were two Popes and Patriarchs of Alexandria: the Greek Orthodox Patriarch and the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch. The Coptic Patriarch later moved to Cairo. The Chalcedonians (Greek Orthodox) were also called "Melkites".
• 570 Birth of Mohammed, founder of Islam.
• 580 Monte Cassino is sacked by the Lombards and the monks flee to Rome.
• 589 At the Council of Toledo in Spain, the Filioque is added to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in an attempt to combat Arianism.
• 590 Irish missionary St. Columbanus founds monasteries in France (Luxeuil in Burgundy).
• 596 St. Gregory the Dialogist sends St. Augustine along with forty other monks to southern Britain to convert the pagans.
• 601 Augustine of Canterbury converts King St. Ethelbert of Kent and establishes the see of Canterbury.
• 615 Death of Columbanus in Italy.
• 626 Akathist Hymn is created, an extensive lyric poem of unparalleled beauty, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Hymn was first chanted in the thanksgiving services following the victory of the Byzantine people after the first siege of Constantinople by Avars and Sassanid Persians on August 8, 626.
• 627 Pope St. Gregory the Dialogist sends Paulinus to found the see of York and convert King St. Edwin of Northumbria.
• 627 Second Elevation of the Holy Cross.
• 635 Founding of Lindisfarne Monastery by St. Aidan, a monk from Iona; Cynegils, king of Wessex, converts to Christianity.
• 636 Capture of Jerusalem by the Muslim Arabs.
• 638 Arabs allow Jews to return to Jerusalem.
• 639 Muslim conquest of Syria.
• 641 Capture of Alexandria by Muslim Arabs.
• 642 Muslim conquest of Egypt.
• 650 Final defeat of Arianism as Lombards convert to Orthodox Christianity.
• 657 Founding of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, England.
• 662 Death of St. Maximus the Confessor.
• 663 Emperor Constans II is last Eastern emperor to set foot in Rome.
• 664 Synod of Whitby held in northern England, harmonizing Celtic and Roman liturgical practices in England; Ionian monk Wilfrid appointed as Archbishop of York.
• 668 St. Theodore of Tarsus is appointed as archbishop of Canterbury.
• 669-78 First Arab siege of Constantinople.
• 670 Composition of Caedmon's Hymn by St. Caedmon of Whitby.
• 680-681 Sixth Ecumenical Council is held in Constantinople, condemning Monothelitism and affirming the Christology of St. Maximus the Confessor, affirming that Christ has both a natural (human) will and a divine will. Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople and Pope Honorius of Rome are both explicitly anathematized for their support of the Monothelite heresy.
• 685 First monastics come to Mount Athos.
• 687 Destruction of Whitby Abbey by Danish raiders.
• 692 Quinisext Council (also called the Penthekte Council or the Council in Trullo) is held in Constantinople, issuing canons which are seen as completing the work of the Fifth and Sixth Ecumenical Councils, and declaring the Church of Jerusalem to be a patriarchate.
• 698 Muslim conquest of Carthage.
• 710 Pope Constantine (708-715) visits Constantinople in 710, the last time a Pope would visit the city until the visit of Pope Paul VI to Istanbul in 1967; Emperor Justinian II kisses the Pope's foot.
• 716 Monastery at Iona conforms to Roman liturgical usage.
• 716 St. Boniface's first missionary journey to Frisia.
• 717-18 Second Arab siege of Constantinople.
• 726 Iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian starts campaign against the icons.
• 731 Venerable Bede completes Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
• 732 Muslim invasion of Europe is stopped by the Franks at the Battle of Tours.
• 739 Emperor Leo III (717-41) publishes his ECLOGA Law Code, designed to introduce Christian principle into law.
• 749 Death of John of Damascus.
• 750 Donation of Constantine is "discovered" and accepted as a legitimate document, used by Pope Stephen II to "prove" territorial and jurisdictional claims.
• 754 Iconoclastic Council is held in Constantinople under the authority of Emperor Constantine V Copronymus, condemning icons and declaring itself to be the Seventh Ecumenical Council; Constantine begins the dissolution of the monasteries.
• 754 Death of St. Boniface, Apostle of Germany.
• 787 Seventh Ecumenical Council is held in Nicea, condemning iconoclasm and affirming the veneration of icons, declaring that worship is due to God alone, and that the honor paid to icons passes to its prototype.
• 800 Charlemagne is crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by Leo III of Rome on Christmas day.
• 800 Ambassadors of Caliph Harunu r-Rashid give keys to the Holy Sepulcher to the Frankish king Charlemagne, thus acknowledging some Frankish control over the interests of Christians in Jerusalem.
• 793 Sack of Lindisfarne; Viking attacks on England begin.
• 826 St. Ansgar arrives in Denmark and begins preaching; King Harald Klak of Denmark converts to Christianity.
• ca. 829-842 Icon of the Virgin Mary-Portaitissa appears on Mount Athos near Iviron Monastery.
• 836 Death of St. Theodore the Studite.
• 843 Triumph of Orthodoxy occurs on the first Sunday of Great Lent, restoring the icons to the churches.

Late Byzantine era (843-1453)

• 846 Muslim raid of Rome.
• 852 St. Ansgar founds the churches at Hedeby and Ribe in Denmark.
• 858 St. Photius the Great becomes patriarch of Constantinople.
• 861 Ss. Cyril and Methodius depart from Constantinople to missionize the Slavs; council presided over by papal legates held in Constantinople which confirms St. Photius the Great as patriarch.
• 862 Ratislav of Moravia converts to Christianity.
• 863 First translations of Biblical and liturgical texts into Church Slavonic by Ss. Cyril and Methodius.
• 863 The Venetians steal relics of St Mark from Alexandria.
• 864 Prince Boris of Bulgaria is baptized.
• 867 Council in Constantinople held, presided over by Photius, which anathematizes Pope Nicholas I of Rome for his attacks on the work of Greek missionaries in Bulgaria and the use by papal missionaries of the heretical Filioque; Pope Nicholas dies before hearing the news of his excommunication; Basil the Macedonian has Emperor Michael III murdered and usurps the Imperial throne, reinstating Ignatius as patriarch of Constantinople.
• 869-870 The Robber Council of 869-870 is held, deposing St. Photius the Great from the Constantinopolitan see and putting the rival claimant Ignatius on the throne, declaring itself to be the "Eighth Ecumenical Council."
• 870 Conversion of Serbia.
• 877 Death of St. Ignatius I of Constantinople, who appoints St. Photius to succeed him.
• 877 Arab Muslims conquer all of Sicily from Byzantium and make Palermo their capital.
• 879-880 The Eighth Ecumenical Council is held in Constantinople, confirming Photius as Patriarch of Constantintople, anathematizing additions to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and declaring that the prerogatives and jurisdiction of the Roman pope and the Constantinopolitan patriarch are essentially equal; this council is reluctantly accepted by Pope John VIII of Rome.
• 883 Muslims burn the monastery of Monte Cassino.
• 885 Mount Athos gains political autonomy.
• 885 Death of St Methodius, apostle to the Slavs.
• 911 The Holy Protection of the Virgin Mary. On October 1st, 911, during an all night vigil at the Blachernae church of the Mother of God in Constantinople, at 4 o'clock in the morning, the most holy Mother of God appeared above the people with a veil spread over her outstretched hands, as though to protect them with this covering.
• 911 Russian envoys visit Constantinople to ratify a treaty, sent by Oleg, Grand Prince of Rus'.
• 912 Normans become Christian.
• 944 City of Edessa is recovered by the Byzantine army, including Icon Not Made By Hands.
• ca. 950 Monastery of Hosios Loukas is founded near ancient Stiris in Greece.
• 957 St Olga is baptized in Constantinople.
• 962 Denmark becomes a Christian nation with the baptism of King Harald Blaatand ("Bluetooth").
• 963 St. Athanasius of Athos establishes the first major monastery on Mount Athos, the Great Lavra.
• 968 Rila Monastery founded.
• 973 Moravia assigned to the Diocese of Prague, putting the West Slavic tribes under jurisdiction of German church.
• 978 Death of King Edward the Martyr.
• 988 Baptism of Rus' begins with the conversion of St. Vladimir of Kiev.
• 995 St. Olaf of Norway proclaims Norway to be a Christian kingdom.
• 1000 Christianization of Greenland and Iceland.
• 1008 Conversion of Sweden.
• 1009 Patriarch Sergius II of Constantinople removes the name of Pope Sergius IV of Rome from the diptychs of the Church of Constantinople, because the pope had written a letter to the patriarch including the Filioque.
• 1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is completely destroyed on October 18, 1009, by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, sixth Fatimid Caliph in Egypt, founder of the Druze (1021).
• 1014 Filioque used for the first time in Rome by Pope Benedict VIII at the coronation of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1015 Death of St Vladimir of Kiev, Prince of Rus', apostle of the Russians and Ruthenians.
• 1017 Danish king Canute converts to Christianity.
• 1022 Death of St Simeon the New Theologian.
• 1027 The Frankish protectorate over Christian interests in Jerusalem is replaced by a Byzantine protectorate. Byzantine leaders begin the reconstruction of the Holy Sepulchre (see AD 800).
• 1036 Byzantine Emperor Michael IV makes a truce with the Caliph of Egypt in 1036 to allow the rebuilding of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Byzantine Masons. The Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Emperor (Eastern Vikings/Rus) were sent there to protect pilgrims, as the Knights Templar would at a later date. The Church was consecrated in 1048.
• 1051 Monastery of the Kiev Caves founded.
• 1054 Cardinal Humbert excommunicates Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, a major centerpoint in the formation of the Great Schism between East and West.
• 1059 Errors of Berengar of Tours condemned in Rome. The term "transubstantiation" begins to come in to use, ascribed to Peter Damian (1007-1072).
• 1066 Normans invade England flying the banner of the Pope of Rome, defeating King Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings, beginning the reformation of the church and society there to align with Latin continental ecclesiology and politics.
• 1071 Seljuk Turks capture Jerusalem. Seljuk rule is not quite as tolerant as that of the Fatimids and Christian pilgrims begin returning to Europe with tales of persecution and oppression. The Seljuks then defeat the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert and begin the Islamification of Asia Minor.
• 1071 Norman princes led by Robert Guiscard capture Bari, the last Byzantine stronghold in Italy, bringing to an end over five centuries of Byzantine rule in the south.
• 1073 Hildebrand becomes Pope Gregory VII and launches the "Gregorian" reforms (celibacy of the clergy, primacy of the papacy over the empire, right of the Pope to depose emperors).
• 1075 Dictatus Papae document advances Papal supremacy.
• 1088 Founding of monastery of St. John the Theologian on Patmos.
• 1095 Launching of the First Crusade.
• 1096 Persecution of Jews by Crusaders.
• 1098 Anselm of Canterbury completes his Cur Deus homo, marking a radical divergence of Western theology of the atonement from that of the East.
• 1098 Crusaders capture Antioch.
• 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem on July 15, 1099, founding the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem," and other crusader states known collectively as "Outremer," lasting from 1099-1291.
• 1119 Order of Knights Templar founded.
• 1144 Bernard of Clairvaux calls for a Second Crusade to rescue the besieged Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, and Louis VII of France and Konrad III of Germany join the Crusaders, but they are defeated by the Muslims. Muslims take Christian stronghold of Edessa.
• 1149 Building on the work of Byzantine Constantine IX in 1048, the crusaders began to renovate the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a Romanesque style and added a bell tower.
• 1180 Last formal, canonical acceptance of Latins to communion at an Eastern altar in Antioch.
• 1187 Saladin retakes Jerusalem and destroys crusader army at the Battle of Hattin.
• 1189 Third Crusade is led by King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England, King Philip Augustus II of France, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
• 1191 Cyprus is taken from the Byzantines by English King Richard I "Lion Heart", and sold to Frankish crusaders in 1198.
• 1204 Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade sack Constantinople, laying waste to the city and stealing many holy relics and other items; Great Schism generally regarded as having been completed by this act.
• 1211 Venetian crusaders conquer Byzantine Crete, retaining it until ousted by the Ottoman Turks in 1669 over four centuries later.
• 1235 Death of St Sava of Serbia.
• 1237 Golden Horde (Mongols) begin subjugation of Russia.
• 1240 Mongols sack Kiev. Prince Alexander Yaroslavich (Nevsky) defeats the Swedish army at the Battle of the Neva.
• 1242 Prince Alexander Nevsky's Novgorodian force defeats the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Lake Peipus, a major defeat for the Catholic crusaders.
• 1258 Michael VIII Palaiologos seizes the throne of the Nicaean Empire, founding the last Roman (Byzantine) dynasty. He begins the reconquest of the Greek peninusla from the Latins.
• 1259 Byzantines defeat Latin Principality of Achaea at the Battle of Pelagonia in September of 1259, marking the beginning of the Byzantine recovery of Greece.
• 1261 End of Latin occupation of Constantinople and restoration of Orthodox patriarchs.
• 1261 Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos made the city of Mystras the seat of the new Despotate of Morea.
• 1268 Egyptian Mamelukes capture Antioch.
• 1275 Patriarch of Constantinople John XI Beccus (1275-1282), was elected to replace Patriarch Joseph I Galesiotes (1267-1275) who had abdicated early in 1275 due to his opposition to the Council of Lyon (1274). Patriarch Bekkos was a controversial figure and the chief Greek advocate of the reunion of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.
• 1291 Fall of Acre. End of crusading in the Holy Land.
• 1302 Papal Bull Unam Sanctum issued on November 18, 1302 by Pope Boniface VIII proclaims Papal supremacy.
• 1333 Gregory Palamas (1296-1359) defends the Orthodox practice of hesychast spirituality and the use of the Jesus Prayer.
• 1336 Meteora in Greece is established as a center of Orthodox monasticism.
• 1341-47 Byzantine civil war between John VI Cantacuzenus (1347–54) and John V Palaeologus (1341–91).
• 1341-1351 Three sessions of the Ninth Ecumenical Council held in Constantinople, affirming the hesychastic theology of St. Gregory Palamas and condemning the rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of Calabria.
• 1344 Death of Amda Syon, Emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1346 *1349 Prince Stephen Dushan of Serbia assumes the title of Tsar (Caesar).
• 1354 Ottoman Turks make first settlement in Europe, at Gallipoli.
• 1359 Death of St Gregory Palamas, Athonite monk and Archbishop of Thessalonica.
• 1379 Western Great Schism ensues, seeing the simultaneous reign of three Popes of Rome.
• 1383 St. Stephen of Perm, missionary to the Zyrians, consecrated bishop.
• 1389 Serbs are defeated by Ottoman Turks of Sultan Murad I at the battle of Kosovo Polje.
• 1391-98 Ottoman Turks beseige Constantinople for the first time, unsuccessful seven-year seige.
• 1396 First English Bible translated by John Wyclif.
• 1417 End of Western "Great Schism" at the Council of Constance.
• 1422 Second unsuccessful Ottoman siege of Constantinople.
• 1439 Ecclesiastical reunion with the West is attempted at the Council of Florence, where only St. Mark of Ephesus refuses to capitulate to the demands of the delegates from Rome.
• 1444 Donation of Constantine proved forgery.
• 1448 Church of Russia declares its independence from the Church of Constantinople.
• 1452 Unification of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches in Hagia Sophia on December 12, 1452 on the West's terms, when Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, under pressure from Rome allowed the union to be proclaimed.
• 1453 Constantinople falls on Tuesday May 29,1453 to the invasion of the Ottoman Turks. End of the Roman Empire in the East. Hagia Sophia is turned into a mosque.

Post-Imperial era (1453-1821)

• 1455 Gutenberg makes first printed Bible.
• 1480 Spanish Inquisition.
• 1492 Millennialist movements in Moscow, due to end of church calendar.
• 1503 Possessor and Non-Possessor controversy.
• 1517 Maximus the Greek invited to Russia to translate Greek service books and correct Russian ones; Martin Luther nails his Ninety-Five Theses to the door at Wittenburg, sparking Protestant Reformation; Ottomans conquer Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria.
• 1526 Non-Possessors attack Tsar Vassily (Basil) III for divorcing his wife, and are driven underground.
• 1534 King Henry VIII declares himself supreme head of the Church of England.
• 1536 Publication of John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian religion".
• 1540 Death of Emperor Lebna Dengel of Ethiopia; formal founding of the Jesuits.
• 1541 Portuguese expeditionary force arrives in Ethiopia.
• 1542 Ethiopians and Portuguese defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrahim Gran of Adal, neutralizing Adal threat to Ethiopia.
• 1547 Council of Trent held to answer the Protestant Reformation.
• 1551 Council of the Hundred Chapters in Russia.
• 1552 Death of St. Basil the Blessed, Fool for Christ, critic of Ivan IV Grozny, for whom St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square is named.
• 1555 Archbishop Gurian missionary in Kazan (until 1564).
• 1564 Jesuits arrive in Poland.
• 1569 Martyrdom of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, at the hands of Ivan IV Grozny.
• 1575 Church of Constantinople grants autonomy to Church of Sinai.
• 1581 Ostrozhsky Bible printed by Prince Kurbsky and Ivan Fedorov.
• 1582 Institution of the Gregorian Calendar by Pope Gregory XIII.
• 1589 Autocephaly of the Church of Russia recognized; the primate of the Church of Russia is styled as "patriarch."
• 1596 At the Union of Brest-Litovsk, several million Ukrainian and Byelorussian Orthodox Christians, living under Polish rule, leave the Church of Russia and recognize the Pope of Rome, without giving up their Byzantine liturgy and customs, creating the Uniate church.
• 1627 Pope Cyril Lukaris of Alexandria presented the famous Codex Alexandrinus to King Charles I of England for "safe keeping."
• 1642 The Council of Jassy (Iaşi) revises Peter Mogila's confession to remove overtly Roman Catholic theology and confirms canonicity of certain deuterocanonical books.
• 1647 Orthodox church erected in Tunisia.
• 1652 School and hospital established in Old Cairo by Patr. Joannikios.
• 1652-1658 Patr. Nikon of Moscow revises liturgical books to bring them into conformity with the Greek liturgical customs, leading to excommunication of dissenters, who become known as the Old Believers.
• 1685 Orthodoxy introduced in Beijing, China by the Church of Russia.
• 1715 Metropolitan Arsenios of Thebaid sent to England by Pope Samuel of Alexandria to negotiate with Non-Juror Anglican bishops.
• 1721 Czar Peter I abolishes replaces Russian patriarchate with a ruling holy synod.
• 1724 Melkite schism, many faithful from the Church of Antioch become Uniates.
• 1767 A community of Orthodox Greeks establishes itself in New Smyrna, Florida; Ottoman Empire legally divides Church of the Holy Sepulchre among claimants.
• 1768 Jews are massacred during riots in Russia-occupied Poland.
• 1779 Death of St. Kosmas Aitolos.
• 1782 First publication of the Philokalia; autonomy of Church of Sinai confirmed by Church of Constantinople.
• 1794 Missionaries, including St. Herman of Alaska, arrive at Kodiak Island, bringing Orthodoxy to Russian Alaska; death of St. Paisius Velichkovsky.
• 1800 5th edition of The Rudder published and printed in Athens.
• 1809-10 Rotunda and edicule exterior of Church of the Holy Sepulchre rebuilt after fire in the then current Ottoman Baroque style.
• 1811 Autocephaly of the Church of Georgia revoked by the Russian imperial state after Georgia's annexation, making it subject to the Church of Russia.

Modern era (1821-1917)

• 1821 Greek independence declared on the Day of Annunciation (March 25), also Kyriopascha; execution of Patr. Gregory V of Constantinople, Abp. Kyprianos of Cyprus, and Abp. Gerasimos of Crete in retaliation.
• 1829 The Treaty of Adrianople ends the Greek War of Independence, culminating in the creation of the modern Greek state.
• 1832 Church of Serbia becomes de facto autocephalous.
• 1833 Church of Greece declares its autocephaly, making it independent of the Church of Constantinople; death of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
• 1847 Restoration of Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem by Pope Pius IX.
• 1848 Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs sent by the primates and synods of the four ancient patriarchates of the Orthodox Church, condemning the Filioque as heresy, declaring the Roman Catholic Church to be heretical, schismatic, and in apostasy, repudiating Ultramontanism and referring to the Photian Council of 879-880 as the "Eighth Ecumenical Council."
• 1850 Church of Constantinople recognizes the autocephaly of the Church of Greece.
• 1851 Translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton; Ottoman Empire recognizes France as supreme Christian authority in Holy Land and grants it possession of the keys to the Church of the Nativity.
• 1852 Ottoman Empire makes division of Church of the Holy Sepulchre permanent.
• 1853-56 Crimean War fought between Russia and the Ottoman Empire together with Britain and France, begins over which church would be recognized as the "sovereign authority" of the Christian faith in the Holy Land.
• 1854 Immaculate Conception declared dogma by Roman Catholic Church.
• 1864 First Orthodox parish established on American soil in New Orleans, Louisiana, by Greeks.
• 1865 Church of Romania declares its independence from the Church of Constantinople.
• 1870 Papal Infallibility declared Roman Catholic dogma necessary for salvation by the First Vatican Council.
• 1871 Nikolai Kasatkin establishes Orthodox mission in Japan.
• 1872 Council in Jerusalem declares phyletism to be a heresy; Church of Bulgaria gains de facto autocephaly by a decree of the Sultan.
• 1879 Church of Constantinople recognizes the autocephaly of the Church of Serbia; death of St. Innocent of Alaska.
• 1881 Wave of anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia causes mass migrations of Jews (2.5 million Jews settle in the United States, thousands settle in Palestine).
• 1885 Church of Constantinople recognizes the autocephaly of the Church of Romania.
• 1898 Last Greek patriarch of Antioch deposed.
• 1899 Restoration of Arabs to the Patriarchal throne of Antioch.
• 1900 Chinese Martyrs of the Boxer-Rebellion in China.
• 1905 Seat of Orthodox bishop in America moved from San Francisco to New York, as immigration from Eastern Europe and the reception of ex-Uniates shifts the balance of Orthodox population to eastern North America.
• 1905 Death of Apostolos Makrakis.
• 1907 Archim. Eusebius Matthopoulos founds Zoe Brotherhood, thus becoming one of the most influential figures in the twentieth century history of the Church of Greece.
• 1908 Fr. Nikodemos Sarikas sent to Johannesburg, Transvaal, by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as first Orthodox priest there, leaving after a short time for German East Africa (later Tanzania) because of the opposition of Johannesburg Greeks to mission among Africans.
• 1908 Death of St. John of Kronstadt.
• 1912 Death of St. Nicholas of Japan.
• 1915-18 Armenian Genocide in Turkey.

Communist era (1917-1991)

• 1917 British forces capture Jerusalem from Ottoman Empire; Church of Georgia's autocephaly restored de facto by political chaos in Russia; Bolshevik Revolution throws the Church of Russia into chaos, effectively stranding the fledgling Orthodox mission in America; St. Nicholas Romanov, Tsar of Russia is martyred together with his wife St. Alexandra and children.
• 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish War; a million refugees flee to Greece joining half a million Greeks who had fled earlier.
• 1920 Death of St. Nektarios of Aegina.
• 1921 Church of Constantinople renounces all claims to jurisdiction in any part of Africa, and the Patriarch of Alexandria is henceforth known as the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa; Greek Archdiocese of America is formed.
• 1922 Church of Albania declares its independence from the Church of Constantinople; formation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia; British Mandate of Palestine begins.
• 1923 Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia granted autonomy by the Church of Constantinople.
• 1924 Church of Constantinople recognizes the autocephaly of the Church of Poland; Bp. Daniel William Alexander convenes meeting in Kimberley, South Africa, which decides to secede from the African Church (a Protestant denomination) and affiliate with the "African Orthodox Church" in New York under George McGuire.
• 1925 Church of Romania becomes a patriarchate; first Africans in sub-Saharan Africa baptized in Tanganyika by Fr. Nikodemos Sarikas.
• 1927 Daniel William Alexander travels from South Africa to America to be consecrated a bishop of the African Orthodox Church. Orthodox Archbishopric of Johannesburg established.
• 1931 Reception of the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe into the Ecumenical Patriarchate, led by Metr. Eulogius (Georgievsky) of Paris.
• 1932 Daniel William Alexander travels to Uganda to meet Reuben Spartas, and establish African Orthodox Church there.
• 1933 Church of Greece bans Freemasonry.
• 1934 Daniel William Alexander travels to Kenya, and establishes African Orthodox Church led by Arthur Gathuna.
• 1935 Critical edition of the Septuagint, "Septuaginta," is published in Gottingen Germany by Alfred Rahlfs at the Septuaginta-Unternehmens Institute.
• 1937 Church of Constantinople recognizes the autocephaly of the Church of Albania.
• 1938 St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York) and St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, Pennsylvania) founded; death of St. Silouan the Athonite.
• ca. 1941-45 Croatian Ustasa terrorists kill 500,000 Orthodox Serbs, expelled 250,000 and force 250,000 to convert to Catholicism.
• 1943 Church of Russia recognizes autocephaly of the Church of Georgia; first constitution of the African Orthodox Church in East Africa signed by Reuben Spartas and Arthur Gathuna.
• 1945 Church of Bulgaria's autocephaly generally recognized; library of early Christian texts is discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt; Soviet Union annexes Czechoslovakia; Church of Russia claims jurisdiction over the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
• 1946 Reuben Spartas of the African Orthodox Church visits Alexandria. The Holy Synod of the Church of Alexandria officially recognises and accepts the African Greek Orthodox Church in Kenya and Uganda.
• 1947 Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered near Qumran in Egypt.
• 1948 Establishment of State of Israel and end of British Mandate of Palestine; Church of Russia re-grants autocephaly to the Church of Poland (after having revoked it in the aftermath of World War II).
• 1951 Church of Russia grants autocephaly to the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
• 1950 Pope Pius XII proclaims the Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma.
• 1957 Church of Russia grants autonomy to the Church of China.
• 1958 Creation of Western Rite Vicariate in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America with the reception of multiple Western Rite parishes into Orthodoxy.
• 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council held in Rome, initiating major liturgical and theological reforms for the Roman Catholic Church, including the restriction of ancient Tridentine Mass and the introduction of the Novus Ordo.
• 1961 Death of St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) of Crimea.
• 1964 Meeting of Pope Paul VI of Rome and Patriarch Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople in Jerusalem.
• 1965 Pope Paul VI of Rome and Patriarch Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople mutually nullify the excommunications of 1054.
• 1967 Church of Macedonia declares its autocephaly, making it independent of the Church of Serbia (as yet unrecognized).
• 1970 Orthodox Church in America reconciles with the Church of Russia and is granted autocephaly, returning control of Church of Japan to Moscow, which grants it autonomy; glorification of St. Herman of Alaska in separate services by the ROCOR and the OCA.
• 1971 Halki Seminary Greek Orthodox Theology Patriarchal School on Heybeliada Island near Istanbul closed.
• 1975 Division in the Antiochian church in North America overcome by the uniting of the two Antiochian archdioceses into one by Metr. Philip (Saliba) of New York and Abp. Michael (Shaheen) of Toledo.
• 1979 Pope John Paul II visits Ecumenical Patriarchate.
• 1979 The Joint Commission of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches for Theological Dialogue established in November 1979 by Pope John Paul II and Patr. Demetrius I (Papadopoulos) of Constantinople.
• 1980 First plenary session of the International Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue.
• 1982 Second Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue publishes in Munich first official common document, "The Mystery of the Church and of the Eucharist in Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity."
• 1985 Founding of Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) as Greek Archdiocesan Mission Center.
• 1987 Third Joint Commission issues common document "Faith, Sacraments and the Unity of the Church" in Bari, Italy.
• 1987 Visit by Patr. Demetrius I (Papadopoulos) of Constantinople to the Vatican.
• 1988 Millennial anniversary of Orthodoxy in Russia.
• 1988 Fourth Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church meets in Valamo, Finland and publishes "The Sacrament of Order in the Sacramental Structure of the Church."
• 1989 Church of Constantinople recognizes the autocephaly of the Church of Georgia; Elder Ephraim begins founding Athonite-style monasteries in North America.
• 1989 Glorification in Russia of St. Tikhon of Moscow.
• 1990 Fifth Joint Theological Commission session meets in Moscow.

Post-Communist era (1991-Present)

• 1991 Soviet Union Collapses, end of Cold War (1945-1991).
• 1992 Civil War Begins in Former Yugoslavia.
• 1993 The sixth Joint Theological Commission session meets in Balamand, Lebanon, and issued the common document on Uniatism: Method of Union of the Past, and Present. Search for Full Communion.
• 1993 Church of Cyprus condemns Freemasonry as a religion incompatible with Christianity.
• 1994 Ligonier Meeting in Western Pennsylvania at the Antiochian Village held by the majority of Orthodox hierarchs in North America votes to do away with the notion of Orthodox Christians in America being a "diaspora."
• 1995 Ecumenical Bartholomew I welcomed to the Vatican.
• 1997 Visit by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople to US.
• 1998 Church of Constantinople, not recognizing Russia's right to issue a tomos of autocephaly in 1951, issues its own tomos for the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia.
• 1999 In Kosovo and Metohia more than 70 Serbian Orthodox shrines, churches and monasteries are destroyed and desecrated under the watch of NATO's Kosovo Force KFOR, UN civil administration, and numerous humanitarian organizations, from June to October 1999.
• 2000 The seventh Joint Theological Commission session met in Baltimore, U.S.A., and discussed a text on The Ecclesiological and Canonical Implications of Uniatism, but is suspended.
• 2001 Papal Apology to Orthodox Church.
• 2002 Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople and Pope John Paul II Sign a Declaration on Protecting the Environment.
• 2003 The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is granted "self-rule" (similar but not identical to autonomy) by the Church of Antioch.
• 2004 Pope John Paul II returns the relics of Ss. John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian to the Church of Constantinople; Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople consecrates church in Havana, Cuba; consecration of first Orthodox church built in Antarctica by Church of Russia.
• 2006 First Orthodox Prayer Book in Chinese and Russian; Pope Benedict XVI drops one of his nine official titles, "Patriarch of the West" and formally dismisses the doctrine of Limbo; Russian Orthodox parish opened in Pyongyang, North Korea; Eighth Joint Theological Commission of the Orthodox and Roman Cathlolic Churches meets in Belgrade, Serbia; Pope Benedict XVI visits Ecumenical Patriarchate; Abp. Christodoulos (Paraskevaides) of Athens visits Vatican.
• 2007 Restoration of full communion between Moscow Patriarchate and ROCOR.

Notes

• Some of these dates are necessarily a bit vague, as records for some periods are particularly difficult to piece together accurately.
• The division of Church History into separate eras as we do here will always be to some extent arbitrary, though we have tried to group periods according to major watershed events.
• This timeline is necessarily biased toward the history of the Orthodox Church, though a number of non-Orthodox events are mentioned for their importance in history related to Orthodoxy.

See also

• Timeline of Orthodoxy in America
• Timeline of Orthodoxy in Australia
• Timeline of Orthodoxy in New Zealand
• Timeline of Orthodoxy in Japan

Published works

The following are published writings that provide an overview of Church history:

From an Orthodox perspective

• Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church: New Edition. (ISBN 0140146563)

From a Heterodox perspective

• Boer, Harry R. A Short History of the Early Church. (ISBN 0802813399)
• Cairns, Earle E. Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church. (ISBN 0310208122)
• Chadwick, Henry. The Early Church. (ISBN 0140231994)
• Collins, Michael, ed.; Price, Matthew Arlen. Story of Christianity: A Celebration of 2000 Years of Faith. (ISBN 0789446057)
• Eusebius Pamphilus; Cruse, C.F. (translator). Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. (ISBN 1565633717)
• Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought, Volume 1: From the Beginnings to the Council of Chalcedon. (ISBN 0687171822)
• Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought, Volume 2: From Augustine to the Eve of the Reformation. (ISBN 0687171830)
• Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought, Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century. (ISBN 0687171849)
• Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume 1: The Early Church to the Reformation. (ISBN 0060633158)
• Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume 2: Reformation to the Present Day. (ISBN 0060633166)
• Hall, Stuart G. Doctrine and Practice in the Early Church. (ISBN 0802806295)
• Hastings, Adrian, ed. A World History of Christianity. (ISBN 0802848753)
• Hussey, J. M. The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire: Oxford History of the Christian Church. (ISBN 0198264569)
• Jones, Timothy P. Christian History Made Easy. (ISBN 1890947105)
• Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. (ISBN 080106211X)
• Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 1: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). (ISBN 0226653714)
• Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 2: The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700). (ISBN 0226653730)
• Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 3: The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300). (ISBN 0226653749)
• Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 4: Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300-1700). (ISBN 0226653773)
• Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Volume 5: Christian Doctrine and Modern Culture (since 1700). (ISBN 0226653803)
• Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. (ISBN 156563196X)
• Wace, Henry; Piercy, William C., ed. A Dictionary of Christian Biography: Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D. With an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies. (ISBN 1565630572)
• Walton, Robert C. Chronological and Background Charts of Church History. (ISBN 0310362814)

External links

• A Timeline of Church History provided by St. Ignatius of Antioch Orthodox Christian Church

• History of Orthodox Christianity (QuickTime movies)
  • Part 1: Beginnings - Journey begins with the founding of the Church, the spread of Christianity to "nations" by the Apostles, the Gospel and the institution of Sacraments
  • Part 2: Byzantium - After the stabilization of the Church, the journey continues through the period of the Nicene Creed, Patristic Scriptures, Divine Liturgy and Icons. During this same period, however, the official division of East and West is witnessed and concludes with a gradual rift in matters of faith, dogma, church customs, politics and culture
  • Part 3: A Hidden Treasure - The Church becomes the only institution perceived by Greeks as the preserver of their national identity during 400 years of Turkish rule. By the end of the 19th century, a worldwide Orthodox community is born and the Church expands its influence to major social and philanthropic concerns