History

Prologue

Eternity

Trinity: Father begets Son, Spirit proceeds from Father and Son, and together Father, Son, and Spirit enjoy a convivial relationship of truth, freedom, love, and vitality. 

Days of Convivial Companionship
(5500 BC)

Yahweh freely chooses to create Heaven and Earth as the perfect context for a covenantal relationship of truth, freedom, love, and vitality with human beings.

 Yahweh freely chooses in love to create humans as beings who, by grace alone, share a covenantal relationship of truth, freedom, love, and vitality with him, one another, and the rest of creation.

5500 BC
Olympia
5500 Creation of Heaven and Earth

The East
5500 Creation of the first two human beings: Adam (5500-4570 BC, 930 years) and Eve (5500-?)

Age of Olympianity (5500-2091 BC, 3409 years)

In Adam and Eve, human beings absurdly choose to reject their covenantal relationship of truth, freedom, love, and vitality with Yahweh, one another, and the rest of creation.

Instead of enjoying a covenantal relationship with Yahweh, human beings now are bullied, bribed, and deceived by powers of evil. They now absurdly choose to worship six false Olympian gods: (1) Jupiter, god of politics; (2) Mars, god of war; (3) Vulcan, god of technology; (4) Venus, goddess of sex; (5) Pluto, god of money; and (6) Bacchus, god of consumption.

Human beings no longer walk the path of freedom with Yahweh which is based on truth, expressed through love, and ends in eternal life. Instead they walk the path of power demanded by false gods which is based on falsehood, expressed through indifference, and leads to death.

Even the rest of creation suffers corruption as a result of their decision.

 1. Fall to Flood (5500-3238, 2262 years)

5500 BC
The East

5499 Cain: first human being to be born

5300 BC
5271 Cain: first murderer. Human relationships marred by increasing violence.
         Cain: builder of first city
              Yahweh vs. Vulcan: Cain
              Cain: First Builder of Cities

5270-3838 (1432 years) Birth of Adam's son Seth to birth of Noah

3900 BC 
The East
3838-2888 (950 years) Noah

3400 BC 
3336-2736 (600 years) Shem: second son of Noah and ancestor of all Semites including Arabs and Jews

3300 BC
Olympia
3238 The Flood

2. Flood to Babel (3238-2707, 531 years)

Only Noah and his family, eight people in all, survive the Flood. Their descendants eventually choose to conspire against Yahweh at Babel. He responds to this unity of all people for evil by confusing their language and scattering them.

3300 BC
The East
3228 The Flood


2900 BC
The East
2841-2437 (404 years) Eber: descendant of Shem and ancestor of all Hebrews including Abraham

2800 BC
The East
2707 Tower of Babel. Marked by the birth of Peleg, son of Eber, whose name means "Division."

3. Babel to Call of Abraham (2707-2091, 616 years)

2600 BC 
Egypt

2200 BC  
The East
2166-1991 (175 years) Abraham and his wife Sarah (2156-2029, 127 years)

2100 BC
The East

Age of Yahwism (2091 BC-1 AD, 2091 years)

 Yahweh chooses to aid a scattered humanity by calling Abraham, blessing him, and blessing humanity through him and his descendants. 

 1. Patriarchs (2091-1876, 215 years)

2100 BC 
The East
2091 Call of Abraham
2080-1943 (137 years) Ishmael: son of Abraham (aged 86) and Hagar
2066-1886 (180 years) Isaac: child promised to Abraham and Sarah
     Temple Mount (on Mount Moriah)
2006-1859 (147 years) Jacob: son of Isaac and Rebekah

2000 BC  
The East
1915-1805 (110 years) Joseph

Hellas

2. Egyptian Sojourn (1876-1446, 430 years)

Yahweh chooses to bless Israel's family and all Egyptians through Joseph.

1900 BC
The East
1900-540 Babylon
1876 Jacob takes his family to Egypt 

Hellas
Visual Arts 
1900 Palace of Knossos (Crete)

1800 BC
The East
Literature
1800? The Epic of Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia)

1600 BC
Egypt
1550-1069 New Kingdom: extends control over Cush and into the Orient
     1500s-1400s Early 18th Dynasty
     1500s-1300s Thebes: Valley of the Kings
     Thebes and Luxor

1526-1406 (120 years) Moses
3. Exodus (1446)

Yahweh blesses his people with freedom and blesses humankind with this revelation of himself as Savior from the Olympian gods and their ruling minions.

1500 BC 
Egypt
1446 Exodus from Egypt (430 years after Jacob entered Egypt)

Visual Arts 
ca 1450 Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (Thebes)

4. Wilderness (1446-1406)

Yahweh blesses his people with instruction (Law at Sinai) on how to live distinctly as his people.
Yahweh also blesses his people with his immediate presence in the Tent of Meeting.

The East
1446 Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai
1445 Yahweh fills Tent of Meeting with his presence
1406 Moses dies

5. Conquest (1406-1375)

Yahweh blesses his people with possession of the land he had promised--a place in which to live distinctly as his people according to his instruction to be blessed and to be a blessing.

1406 Israel crosses the Jordan and enters the Promised Land

6. Judges (1375-1050)

Yahweh's people persistently forsake him for Olympian gods. He just as persistently frees them from their faithlessness and enemies--spiritual and temporal.

1400 BC
Egypt
r. 1390-1352 Amenhotep 3rd: height of ancient Egyptian power
r. 1351-1336 Akhenaten
r. 1338-1336 Nefertiti
r. 1336-1327 Tutankhamun

Visual Arts
1345 Nefertiti
1323 Tutankhamen's Mask

1300 BC
Egypt
1303-1213, r. >1279 Ramses 2nd: last pharaoh of significance

Visual Arts 
ca 1280 Great Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Karnak (Thebes)

 1200 BC
Eastern Mediterranean
1200-800 Dark Age

Anatolia
1184 Fall of Troy

The East
1200-800 Phoenicia

Numidia
1200-264 Early History of Carthage

7. Kingdom (1050-586)

Yahweh's people sin grievously by rejecting him as king and demanding a human one. After his warnings are also rejected, he grants their wish and gives them a king. At the same time, he calls individuals to serve him as prophets to challenge the power of kings in the name of Yahweh: the one true god of freedom.

1100 BC  
The East
1100-600 Assyria
r. 1050-1010 (40 years) Saul becomes first human king of Israel
r. 1010-971 David
     David and Goliath

David wants to replace the Tent of Meeting with a permanent house (temple) for Yahweh. Through Nathan the prophet, Yahweh tells David that, in response, Yahweh will make David's house (dynasty) permanent.

1000 BC  
The East
r. 971-931 Solomon

Yahweh, just as was present everywhere but also chose to be present in a special way in the Tent of Meeting above the Ark of the Covenant, so now he chooses to be present in that same special way in the Temple constructed by Solomon.

968-961 Temple constructed in Jerusalem

Yahweh punishes the faithlessness of Solomon by separating 10 tribes from the control of his son.

931 United Kingdom of Israel and Judah splits in two
     Rehoboam and Jeroboam

875-853 Ahab
     Ahab and Elijah

Hellas
Sense of Adventure: on Jason and his Argonauts

900 BC
The East
Elisha

Numidia
814-264 Early History of Carthage

800 BC
The East
ca 760 Amos
740-680 The Ministry of Isaiah
     Accurate Predictions: Isaiah predicts the fall of Babylon

Yahweh punishes the faithlessness of the Kingdom of Israel by allowing the Assyrians to remove them permanently from the Promised Land.

722 Assyria under Shalmaneser destroys the Kingdom of Israel

Latium
771-716, r. >753 Romulus: Founder of Rome
753 Founding of Rome
753-264 History of Rome

 Hellas
776 First Olympics

Literature
ca 750 Homer
ca 750 Hesiod

700 BC
Hellas
Literature
Sappho (c. 630-c. 570)

The East
r. 640-609 Josiah rules Judah
     Josiah's Example of Public Repentance
ca 645-ca 586, fl. >627 Jeremiah
     Jeremiah and the End of Judah

8. Exile (607-537)

Yahweh punishes the faithlessness of his people in the Kingdom of Judah by depriving them of his special immediacy in the Temple, their Davidic king, and the Promised Land.

600 BC
The East
586 Nebuchadnezzar's army takes control of Judah, destroys Jerusalem, and burns down Temple
540-330 The Persian Empire

Hellas
Literature
ca 620-564 Aesop

Latium
509 The Etruscans wore themselves out in competition with Hellenistic colonists in southern Latium moving north of Naples. This allowed the citizens of Rome to free themselves of Etruscan control and kings. The Romans declared themselves a republic and were governed by an assembly of oligarchs (the Senate) and representatives of free men.

9. Return (537-416)

Yahweh demonstrates his faithfulness to his own word and his people by restoring a remnant of them to the Promised Land and enabling them to build a new temple.

538 BC-AD 70 Second Temple Judaism
586-515 The Fall and Rise of Yahweh's Temple

500 BC
The East
r. 445-424 Nehemiah

10. Silence (416-1 BC)

Yahweh speaks to his people one last time through the prophet Malachi. Then he invites them to wait, indefinitely, until he speaks to them again. He does so again, finally, to Zechariah who then becomes the father of John the Baptist.

416 Malachi: last Old Testament prophet

Hellas
<479 BC Athens
      508-406 Classical Athens: Democracy, Victory, Theater
      479-431 Foolishness, Truth, and Beauty
      431-404 Stunning Creativity Despite Suicidal War
      404-323 Twilight
      508-323 Sublimity and Stupidity
1200-500 Sparta

Literature
ca 525-ca 455 Aeschylus
522-443 Pindar
496-406 Sophocles
ca 480-ca 406 Euripedes
ca 446-ca 386 Aristophanes

Visual Arts
ca 475 Charioteer of Delphi: full view, detail of head
432 Parthenon (Athens)
460? Zeus of Artemision: view
ca 450 Discus Thrower: view

400 BC
Hellas
356-323, r. >336 Alexander
     Ussher: Alexander 3rd of Macedon

Literature
ca 430-354 Xenophon
428-348 Plato
384-322 Aristotle

Visual Arts
ca 350 Temple of Apollo (Delphi)

Latium
396 Romans establish control over municipal states of Tiber River valley
390 Celts from Noricum sack Rome, burn it to the ground, then leave. The Romans determine never to let anything like that happen again.

300 BC
Eastern Mediterranean
>323 Hellenic Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean

Western Mediterranean
290 Rome establishes control over central Latium from the Tiber River to Naples.
272 Rome defeats Hellenic armies to take control of all Latium from the Arno River (in today's Tuscany) to the Ionian Sea.
264-241 First Punic War: Rome takes control of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica
218-201 Second Punic War: Rome takes control of southeastern Iberia

 Egypt
Literature
     276-194 Eratosthenes 
     ca 250 Septuagint 
     ca 250 Manetho: History of Egypt 

Anatolia
Visual Arts 
ca 220 The Dying Galatian: front view, back view, head

200 BC
Numidia
149-146 Third Punic War: Rome destroys Carthage
146-104 Rome takes control of Numidia

Anatolia
Visual Arts 
200? Laocoon and His Sons: front view, Laocoon's head

Hellas
200-146 Rome takes control of Hellas

Visual Arts
ca 190 Winged Victory of Samothrace
ca 120 Venus de Milo (Alexandro of Antioch)

Anatolia
133 Rome inherits the western Anatolian kingdom of Pergamum

Noricum
113-102 Rome establishes itself in Noricum

100 BC
Latium
Literature
70-19 BC Virgil
59 BC-AD 17 Livy
43 BC-AD 17 Ovid

Anatolia
86-66 Rome takes control of Anatolia

The East
63 Rome takes control of the Levant

Gallia
58-50 Julius Caesar takes control of Gallia for Rome

Egypt
69-30 Cleopatra
30 Octavius takes control of Egypt for Rome

Iberia
19 After sporadic battles since 210, Rome takes control of Iberia

Noricum
15 Rome takes control of Noricum

11. New Word

Yahweh breaks the silence he sustained since Malachi, ending the long drought of his people, with his new word to Zechariah.

The East
Angel Gabriel tells Zechariah of future birth of his son John the Baptist (1 BC)

Age of Christianity (AD 1-632)

In Jesus Christ, singularly Son of God and Son of Man, Yahweh fulfills the meaning of history since the creation of Adam and Eve (5500 BC) as well as the meaning of his people Israel (since 2091 BC). In Jesus Christ, Yahweh decisively defeated all powers of evil and liberated us from the penalty of sin. Objectively saved by Jesus Christ, each person may now witness to that salvation by walking with Jesus Christ on the path of freedom and sharing his truth, love, and vitality with others. The privilege of Christians and the Church since Pentecost has been to intentionally do just that and to invite others to join them.
1. Victory of Jesus Christ (AD 1-33)

AD 1
Olympia
1-1992 Christianity: Chronology

 The East
Jewish Context AD 1
Diaspora Judaism (AD 1)

Germania
9 Roman army suffers crushing defeat in Teutoburg Forest and never again attempts to establish control east of the Rhine River.

Latium
Visual Arts
20? Augustus of Prima Porta

2. Eyewitnesses (AD 33-100)

Olympia
1-67 Paul
     1-32 Birth to Conversion

The East
43-44 Herod Agrippa 1st (11 BC-AD 44, r. 41-44), grandson of Herod 1st ("the Great") executes the apostle James, brother of John, and jails Peter.

66-70 First Jewish Rebellion. In 66, the Jerusalem Church, composed of Christian Jews, moved to Pella outside of Judea (in today's Jordan), and lost its historical significance. The Pharisees reconstituted themselves in Jamnia. In 70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple as well as Zealots and Sadducees.

90 Council of Jamnia: Jewish leaders reject Christians as Jews as well as the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Jewish Bible widely used by Christians). 

British Isles
43-61 Rome takes control of Britannia (England and Wales)

Latium
64 In the city of Rome, Nero starts first Roman major state persecution of Christians
81-96 In the city of Rome, Domitian starts the second persecution

Literature  
90 First Epistle of Clement (of Rome)

Visual Arts
80 Colosseum (Rome)
82 Arch of Titus (Rome)


3. Ongoing Illegal Period (100-313)

100 
Olympia
117-486 Contraction of the Roman State
100 Christians present in the Levant, Egypt, Anatolia, Hellas, and Latium. Anatolia had the greatest number of churches. The most important ones, however, were in Alexandria (Egypt), Antioch (Syria), and Rome (Latium).

100 Churches in Alexandria (Egypt) and Antioch (Syria) become the most influential following the eclipse of the church in Jerusalem after AD 66.

Literature
100 Paul's surviving letters collected and preserved as a unity)
100-200 Church leaders discern which writings should be in Bible
100 Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve) given final form
100s New form of Christian writing: the apology, a defense of Christian theology and practice against Olympian attacks.
100s Gnosticism: teachings of a higher secret knowledge needed for salvation from the body and material world.

Gallia
178-202? Irenaeus serves as bishop of Lyons. He defended knowledge of the Bible, and ordinary Christians who knew and practiced it, from Gnosticism. He affirmed three standards of truth needed for salvation: (1) a canon of biblical books, (2) creeds summarizing key biblical truths, and (3) bishops developing a normative understanding of Bible and creeds. This third standard eventually displaced the freedom of individual Christians and local congregations as well as the inspired words of gifted preachers, teachers, and prophets. 

Dacia
101-106 Rome takes control of Dacia

Anatolia
155 Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, martyred
ca 170 Montanists influential in Anatolia

The East
114 Trajan takes control of Mesopotamia for Rome.
117 Hadrian gives it back to Parthia.
115-117 Second Jewish Rebellion involves Jews in cities across Anatolia, the East, and Egypt. The rebellion is especially intense in Alexandria and results in the destruction of the Jewish community there.
132-136 Third Jewish Rebellion

Latium
107 Ignatius, bishop of Antioch (Syria), martyred in Rome. The Greek word for martyr means witness. Eventually it came to be used of Christians who had witnessed to Christ unto death. The word confessor was used of Christians who were persecuted but not killed.

144 Marcion excommunicated by church in Rome for denying that Jesus was the incarnation of God and wanting to exclude the whole Old Testament from the Bible. 

ca 100-ca 165 Martyrdom, in Rome, of Justin Martyr: best educated apologist, his witness influenced Origen of Alexandria.

Literature  
111-113 Letters between Trajan, emperor, and Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia. Trajan counsels moderate treatment of Christians.

ca 180 The Apostles' Creed, a summary of Christian beliefs, first used in Rome at baptisms

Visual Arts
113 Trajan's Column (Rome)
120 Apollo Belvedere (Vatican)
128 Pantheon
123-39 Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castle Sant'Angelo, Rome)
ca 175 Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius (Rome)

Iberia
Visual Arts
ca 110 Aqueduct of Segovia

Numidia
ca 155-ca 220 Tertullian of Carthage: first major Christian theologian writing in Latin

Hellas
Literature
ca 45-120 Plutarch

200
Olympia
200 Jewish communities remain far wealthier than Christian ones but Christians now equal Jews in number in the Roman Empire.

ca 200 Displacement of Greek by Latin begins in churches in the western empire.

250-251 Decius initiates persecution of Christians. Fabian, bishop of Rome, and Origen, Alexandrian theologian, among the martyred.

257-260 Valerian initiates persecution of Christians.

284-311 Diocletian initiates widest, most severe, and last universal persecution of Christians by the Roman state. Church buildings destroyed, Bibles burned, large numbers of Christians become martyrs or apostates. Persecution declines in the western Empire in 305 but increases in ferocity in the east until 311.

British Isles
Medieval tradition tells us that Joseph of Arimathea brought the Gospel to Britons in Glastonbury. Both Tertullian and Irenaeus note the presence of Christians in Britannia by AD 200.

Anatolia
285-303 Barbara

Latium
200-1700s The Rise and Decline of the Talmud
286 Diocletian moves capital of Roman Empire from Rome to Milan in Noricum

Numidia
258 Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, martyred

Egypt
ca 200 Clement starts distinctive school of theology in Alexandria. Origen follows.
ca 185-ca 251 Origen: excellent Greek education, brilliant thinker, first systematic theologian. By the command of Decius, was arrested, tortured, and eventually died of his wounds. 
ca 251-356 Anthony of the Desert
ca 280 Hermitages and monasteries begin spreading throughout Egypt and the Levant
280-305 Catherine of Alexandria

Dacia
275 Rome withdraws its control from Dacia

4. Early Establishment Period (313-451)
300 While Jews continue to enjoy greater status, Christians amount to 25% of the population of the empire while Jews remain at about 5%.
313 Edict of Milan, issued by co-emperors Constantine and Licinius, grants Christianity status as a religion legally recognized by the Roman state. Constantine then favors Christians. Being Christian becomes the norm. Churches became wealthy. Monasticism becomes a mass movement.
ca 320-381 Arian controversy: Arius, popular priest in Alexandria, asserts that Jesus is unique but not equal to the Father
325 First Ecumenical Council at Nicea: initial form of Nicene Creed
330-620 Rome: Latin Olympian to Greek Christian
330-1453 Schism between Latin and Greek Christian Churches
r. 361-363 Julian "the Apostate" (331-363, aged 31): last non-Christian Roman emperor
r. 379-395 Theodosius 1st (b. 347, aged 48), baptized 380, last ruler of a united Roman Empire
380 Edict of Thessalonica: co-emperors Gratian and Theodosius proclaim Nicene Christianity the sole legal religion of the Roman Empire.
381 Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople: final form of Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are affirmed as identical in nature, co-equal, and co-eternal.
392 As last sole ruler of a united empire, Theodosius starts persecuting non-Christians and non-Trinitarian Christians.
395 Roman Empire permanently splits into western and eastern halves

Gallia
327?-397 Martin of Tours
ca 272-337 (65 years) Constantine ("the Great") (r. 312-337, sole ruler beginning in 324)
       313 With co-emperor Licinius, issues Edict of Milan granting Christianity legal status as a religion

Visual Arts
500 BC-AD 312 Roman Forum
315 Arch of Constantine (Rome)
ca 320 Construction begins of first Church of St. Peter in Rome

Noricum
r. 374-397 Ambrose (b. ca 339, aged 58), bishop of Roman imperial capital of Milan

Anatolia
325 Council of Nicaea (First Ecumenical) refutes Arianism with first Nicene Creed
329-390 (aged 60) Gregory of Nazianzus
330-379 (aged 48) Basil of Caesaria
ca 335-ca 395 (aged 60) Gregory of Nyssa, brother of Basil, and together with Gregory of Nazianzus known as the Cappadocian Fathers
378 Battle of Adrianople: emperor Valens dies in catastrophic defeat of Roman army by Goths

The East
ca 324 Church History by Eusebius (ca 260-339, 78 years), bishop of Caesaria
ca 342/347-420 (aged 73-78) Jerome

Egypt
342 Pachomius, born in Thebes (292), student of Anthony, founds first Christian monastery on an island in the Nile.

Numidia
311 Donatist movement rejects forgiveness for apostates 

Literature
354-430 Augustine of Hippo (bishop of Hippo, 396-430)
     Disentangling Church and Empire

Hellas
330 Constantinople becomes the new capital of the Roman Empire
ca 347-407 (aged 60) John Chrysostom ("Golden-Tongued") (bishop of Constantinople, 398-404)

Literature
381 Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed

ca 345-420 Jerome

British Isles
Literature

400
Christendom
395-430 Monasticism in western Olympia begins near Marseilles
431 Third Ecumenical Council, in Ephesus, 
401-450 Theodosius 2nd (r. 402-450)
       438 Theodosian Code, first Christian code of law, promulgated
410-543 Beginnings of Western Monasticism
486 Germanian Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustus, the last Roman emperor in the West

Noricum
402 Capital of the Western Roman Empire moved from Milan to Ravenna
493 Ostrogoth Theodoric takes control of Latium and most of Noricum

Gallia
406-409 A frozen Rhine allows large invasion by Germanians
486-507 Clovis takes control of Gallia from Romans and Visigoths
     498 Clovis baptized on Christmas Day

Iberia
>409 Germanian tribes contest Roman control
472 Visigoths replace Romans and other Germanians as rulers of Iberia

Latium
410 Rome sacked for the first time since 390 BC
ca 400-461 (aged 61) Leo 1st "the Great", pope (430-461)
440 Germanian Vandals take control of Sicily
455 Vandals loot Rome for two weeks
493-526 Ostrogoth Theodoric (454-526, aged 78) rules Latium and most of Noricum

British Isles
410 Roman troops withdrawn from Britannia leaving Britons on their own
432 Patrick preaches in Ireland

Numidia
429-439 Germanian Vandals take control of Numidia including Carthage

Anatolia
431 Council of Ephesus (Third Ecumenical): declares Mary "Mother of God" (Greek: Theotokos) and deposes Nestorius (who affirmed her as Mother of Christ ["Christotokos]) as bishop of Constantinople and sends him into exile. Nestorians form separate churches, are persecuted, with some fleeing to Mesopotamia where they are welcomed by Christians living under Persian rule.

451 Council of Chalcedon (Fourth Ecumenical): Counil affirms that Jesus Christ is one person with two natures (one fully divine, one fully human), without separation, without confusion, and in that order.

451 Monophysites, those who affirm that Jesus Christ is one person with but one nature, reject the Chalcedonian Formula and form separate churches.

451 Church leaders of Alexandria (Egypt) and Antioch (Syria) had been the most important since Jerusalem marginalized itself in 70. Rejecting the Chalcedonian Formula, these leaders marginalized themselves. They became what is known today as the Oriental Orthodox Church: the Coptic Orthodox Church (Egypt) and Syriac Orthodox Church (Syria). They left leadership of the Chalcedonian Church to leaders in Rome and Constantinople.

Literature

500
Greek Christendom
482-565 (aged 83) Justinian 1st 
     527 Begins rule of Roman Empire
     529 Code of Justinian: enduring legal foundation of Christendom
     537 Completes construction of Church of the Holy Wisdom ("Hagia Sophia")

Latium
ca 470-ca 544 Dionysius Exiguus ("Dennis the Humble")
     ca 520 Invented the Anno Domini (AD) calendrical system
ca 540-604 (aged 63) Gregory 1st ("the Great")
     590-604 Bishop of Rome
     596 Gregory sends Augustine to Britannia to be archbishop

Literature
ca 480-543 Benedict of Nursia
     Jesus, the Church, and Vulcan: Benedictines
ca 480-525 Boethius

Noricum
Visual Arts

Hellas
500-48Theodora (empress 527-548)

Visual Arts 
533-37 Hagia Sophia (Constantinople)

Egypt
527 Monastery of St. Catherine (Mount Sinai)

Age of Islam (632-1648)

 600
Southern Olympia
622-1995 Islam: Chronology
Muslim Call to Prayer
634-732 Expansion of the Arab Muslim Caliphate
     638-646 Arab Muslims take control of Egypt and the East from the Roman Empire

Latin Christendom
Music
ca 600 Gregorian Chant

The East
Visual Arts
692 Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem)

Germania

700
British Isles
793 First Look: Vikings (Caledonia, 793)

Literature 
ca 673-735 (aged 61) Bede, monk at Jarrow
     731 Ecclesiastical History of the English People
     711-716 Arab Muslims seize control of Iberia from Visigothic Christians

Gallia
732 Battle of Poitiers: Charles Martel ("the Hammer") permanently repulses Arab Muslim incursions from Iberia into Gallia.

Germania
742-814, r. >768 First Look at Charlemagne

Hellas
730-787, 815-43 Byzantine Iconoclasm

800
Latin Christendom
747-814 (aged 66) Charlemagne
     800 Bishop of Rome crowns Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day
840 Donation of Constantine grants broad civic powers to the bishop of Rome
r. 858-867 Nicholas 1st: most effective pope for 200 years

Greek Christendom
ca 810-ca 893 (83 years) Photios, brilliant scholar, patriarch of Constantinople

British Isles
ca 849-899 (50 years) Alfred, King of the West Saxons (871-886) and Anglo-Saxons (886-899)

Literature
ca 800 Beowulf 

Visual Arts
800 Book of Kells (Dublin)

900
Gallia
910 Founding of reforming abbey at Cluny

Germania
912-973 (60 years) Otto ("the Great"), Duke of Saxony (936-961) and Holy Roman Emperor (962-973)

Noricum
ca 907-929? Wenceslas, duke, then patron saint of Bohemia
970/5-1038 Stephen 1, king of Hungary and saint. During his rule, Hungary became Christian and a part of Latin Christendom.

Iberia
921-1031 Islamic Iberia: The Golden Age

1000
Christendom
1054 Permanent schism between Greek and Latin halves of Christendom
1095 Initial participants in the First Crusade destroy Jewish communities along the way.

Latin Christendom
1073-1085 Gregory 7th, pope, commits to ending the appointment of bishops and abbots by political leaders and to enforcing the celibacy of priests.

1095 Urban 2nd, pope, calls for a crusade to free Jerusalem from Muslim control.

British Isles
1093-1109 Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, initiates intellectual rebirth of Latin Christendom

Gallia
1084 Founding of Carthusians at the Great Charterhouse ("Grande Chartreuse"), north of Grenoble, leads to renewed growth in monasticism.

1098 Cistercians founded to reform Benedictines

Germania
1049-1054 Leo 9th of Germania reestablishes importance of pope as ruler of Latin Christian Church.
1077 Henry 4th, ruler of the Germanian (Holy Roman) Empire, forced to humble himself before the pope at Canossa in Noricum.

Iberia
1031-1492 The Decline of Islamic Iberia
1043-99 El Cid

Latium
1039-1090 Normans conquer southern Latium and seize control of Sicily from Arab Muslims

The East
1095-99 The First Crusade

1100
Latin Christendom
1100-1750 The Decline of Jewish Society in Latin Christendom

British Isles
1120-1170 (50 years) Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury and martyr

Gallia
1090-1153 Bernard of Clairvaux
1176 Peter Waldo of Lyon publicly advocates poverty and simplicity; Waldenses start.

Literature
ca 1100 The Song of Roland
ca 1096-1160 (64 years) Peter Lombard
     1150 Four Books of Sentences remained the most important book of theology in Latin Christendom for centuries.

Iberia
1090-1500 Jews in Iberia

Literature
ca 1170 The Poem of the Cid

Noricum
ca 1140 Gratian initiates the study of canon law in Latin Christendom at Bologne with the publication of his Decretum.

Visual Arts 
1063-1117 St. Mark's Basilica (Venice)

The East
1156 Founding of the Carmelite Order on Mount Carmel in Palestine

Visual Arts
1149 Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem)

1200
Latin Christendom
r. 1198-1216 Innocent 3rd, most politically powerful pope, deposes Otto 4th (German emperor), excommunicates John (king of England), and forces Philip Augustus to reunite with his wife.

ca 1200 Groups of teachers and students coelesce into universities in Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and Bologne.


1232 Gregory 9th establishes the Papal Inquisition. This organized persecution of heretics is done chiefly by Dominicans and Franciscans.

1243-1254 Innocent 4th (pope) uses his position to politically attack Frederick 2nd (German emperor).

Literature
1225-74 Thomas Aquinas
     1273 Summa Theologica: most brilliant synthesis of Latin Christian theology ever

British Iles
Music

Gallia
1209-1229 Albigensian Crusade
r. 1226-1270 Louis 9th, king of France, later declared a saint

Visual Arts
1220 Chartres Cathedral
1248 Sainte-Chapelle (Paris)

Iberia
1170-1221 (51 years) Dominic
     1216 Founds Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
ca 1250 Christians complete the reconquest of Iberia with the exception of Granada.

Latium
1181-1226 Francis of Assisi
     Prayer of Francis
     Jesus, the Church, and Pluto (Francis, Wilberforce, Booth)

Germania
r. 1215-1250 Frederick 2nd rules German Empire and Sicily and negotiates the return of Jerusalem to Christian control.

Hellas
1202-04 Fourth Crusade

Egypt
1217-1221, 1228-1229 Fifth and Sixth Crusades
1248-1250, 1270, 1271-1272 Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Crusades
1291 Latin Christian Kingdom in the East ends with the fall of Acre

1300
Olympia
1347-51 The Plague

Latin Christendom
1302 Boniface 8th makes the strongest claims for papal power in One Holy Church ("Unam Sanctam")
1378-1417 Great Schism

British Isles
Literature
ca 1325-84, fl. >1367 John Wycliffe; Lollards
1375? Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
1343-1400 Geoffrey Chaucer
     1400 The Canterbury Tales

Gallia
Visual Arts
1345 Notre-Dame de Paris

Germania

Noricum
ca 1369-1415, fl. >1391 Jan Hus

Visual Arts
1305 Arena Chapel (Giotto, Padua)

Latium
Literature
ca 1262-ca 1348 Ugolino Brunforte
     ca 1325 Little Flowers of St. Francis
1265-1321 Dante
     1321 The Divine Comedy
1304-74 Petrarch
1313-75 Boccaccio

Visual Arts
1267-1337 Giotto
Iberia
Visual Arts
ca 1350 The Alhambre (Granada)

Hellas
Visual Arts
1321 Chora Church mosaics (Constantinople)

1400
Latin Christendom

British Isles
Literature
1415-71 Thomas Malory

Gallia
1412-31 Joan of Arc

Visual Arts
1390-1441 Jan van Eyck

Iberia
1492 Ferdinand takes control of Granada--last Muslim stronghold in Spain.
1492 Ferdinand expels all Jews from Spain
1492 Columbus discovers the Western Hemisphere

Germania
Literature
1380-1471 Thomas a Kempis

Noricum
ca 1375-1415 (fl. >1401) Jan Hus

Latium
1389-1464 Cosimo de' Medici
1449-92 Lorenzo de' Medici
1452-98 Girolamo Savonarola: His Rise, His Fall

Literature
1469-1527 Machiavelli

Visual Arts
1377-1446 Brunelleschi
1378-1455 Lorenzo Ghiberti
1386-1466 Donatello
ca 1420-98 Antonio del Pollaiolo
     ca 1470 Capitoline Wolf 
ca 1431-1506 Andrea Mantegna
1465-1564 Michelangelo
 
Hellas
1453 End of the Roman Empire following the capture of Constantinople by Ottoman Turks.

Slavia
Visual Arts
1495 Kremlin (Moscow)

1500
Latin Christendom
r. 1503-13 Julius 2nd
1545-1563 Council of Trent (1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63)

Literature
1466-1536 (fl. >1511) Erasmus

 British Isles
1467-1519 John Colet

Literature
1526 William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament into English
1559 The Book of Common Prayer
1594 Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie by Richard Hooker becomes normative statement of Anglican belief and practice.
Visual Arts
ca 1497-1543 Hans Holbein the Younger 
1245-1517 Westminster Abbey (London)

          2017 Reformation Day 500
1521 Ulrich Zwingli brings the reform movement to Zurich
1524-55 Mars Adds His Corruption to the Lutheran Reformation
1525 Anabaptist movement starts in Zurich. It will resist Jupiter and Mars.
1541-1564 John Calvin leads reform in Geneva.
     1555 Michael Servetus executed for heresy
1555 Peace of Augsburg: Lutheran Church legalized in Germania
1566-1579 Protestant Christians in Holland gain independence from Spain

Literature
1483-1546 Martin Luther
1530 Augsburg Confession
1534-83 Zacharius Ursinus
     1563 The Heidelberg Catechism

Visual Arts
1450-1516 Hieronymous Bosch 
ca 1470-1528 Matthias Grunewald
1471-1528 Albrecht Durer 

 Gallia
1534 Ignatius Loyola starts the Society of Jesus in Paris
>1550 Huguenots: Calvinists in Gallia
     1598 Edict of Nantes

Literature
1533-92 Michel de Montaigne

Visual Arts
     1558 Icarus
          1939 Icarus: Auden's Thoughts

Noricum
1525 Anabaptist Beginnings
1509-64 (fl. >1541) John Calvin

Latium
1506 Reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica (Rome) begins

Visual Arts
1483-1520 Raphael
1500-71 Benevenuto Cellini 

Music
ca 1525-94 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Iberia
1515-1582 Teresa of Avila reforms the Carmelites of Iberia

Visual Arts
1434-1517 Seville Cathedral

Polonia
Visual Arts
1500s Wawel Castle (Krakow)

Hellas
1558 Suleymaniye Mosque (Istanbul)

Slavia
Visual Arts
1561 St. Basil's Cathedral (Moscow)

1600
British Isles
>1604 Nonconformity in Britannia
1624-1691 George Fox and the Religious Society of Friends ("Quakers")
1642-1651 English Civil War
1660 The Restoration: monarchy restored in England
1686 Roman Catholic James 2nd deposed

Literature
1611 King James Version of the Bible
1581-1656 James Ussher
1588-1679 Thomas Hobbes
1608-74 John Milton
1628-88 John Bunyan

Music
ca 1600 English madrigals

Gallia
1638-1715 (r. >1643) Louis 14th
     1685 Revokes Edict of Nantes--sending thousands of Huguenots abroad

Literature
1567-1622 Francis de Sales
     1619 Introduction to the Devout Life

Visual Arts
ca 1600-82 Claude Lorrain

Germania
1618-1648 Thirty Years War 

Visual Arts
ca 1582-1666 Franz Hals
1606-69 Rembrandt
1632-75 Jan Vermeer

Noricum
Music
1648-1741 Antonio Vivaldi

Latium
Visual Arts 
1571-1610 Caravaggio 
1598-1680 Gian Lorenzo Bernini
1626 St. Peter's Basilica (Rome)

Iberia
Literature
1547-1616 Miguel de Cervantes

Visual Arts 
1599-1660 Diego Velazquez

Age of Exuberant Olympianity (1648-2008)

1648 
Olympia
1660s The messianic claims of Sabbatai Zevi agitate Jewish communities.

Western Christendom
1648 Peace of Westphalia ends Latin Christian civil war
1635-1705 Philipp Spener
     1675 Founds movement called Pietism

Slavia
1648 Cossacks destroy Jewish communities

1700
Western Christendom
1715-89 Thoughts from the Springtime of Civilization
1725-75 Rococo
1750-1880 Jewish Enlightenment and Emancipation
1773 Clement 14th, pope, abolishes the Society of Jesus

British Iles
1700s English Christians Choose Classical Culture and Gods

Literature
ca 1660-1731 Daniel Defoe
1667-1745 Jonathan Swift
1707-54 Henry Fielding
1729-97 Edmund Burke

Visual Arts
1632-1723 Christopher Wren
1723-92 Joshua Reynolds 
1727-88 Thomas Gainsborough

Music
1685-1759 George Frideric Handel

Gallia
     1789-1794 French state nationalizes church property, bans monastic vows, and takes control of church leadership.
          1792-1793 The Terror: French state attempts to destroy the Church with violence
Literature
1694-1778 Voltaire
1712-1778 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1713-1784 Denis Diderot
     1751-1765 French Encyclopedia strongly criticizes Church and promotes the Enlightenment

Visual Arts
1681-1715 Palace of Versailles
1748-1825 Jacques-Louis David
1790 Pantheon (Paris)

Iberia
1755 Lisbon Earthquake

Visual Arts
1746-1828 Francisco de Goya

Germania
1749-1832 Goethe

Visual Arts
1791 Brandenburg Gate (Berlin)

Music
1685-1750 Johann Sebastian Bach

Noricum
Music
1732-1809 Franz Joseph Haydn
1756-91 Mozart

Visual Arts
1697-1768 Canaletto

Latium
Visual Arts
1752 Trevi Fountain (Rome)

Anatolia
Visual Arts
1435-1730 Grand Bazaar (Istanbul)

Slavia
1698-1760 Baal Shem Tov

Visual Arts
1716-91 Etienne Maurice Falconet
     1782 The Bronze Horseman (St. Petersburg)

Egypt
1798-99 Napoleon in Egypt:
     1798 Battle of the Pyramids
     1798 Battle of the Nile
     1798 Revolt in Cairo 
     1798 Napoleon's Institute of Egypt 
     1799 Siege of Acre 
     1799 Rosetta Stone 
     1799 Out of Egypt 

Oceania
Literature
1791 US Bill of Rights

 1800
Western Christendom
1814 After Napoleon's fall, Pius 7th, pope, restarts the Society of Jesus
1846-1878 Pius 9th, pope
     1864 Syllabus of Errors best expresses his rejection of modernism
     1869-1870 First Vatican Council declares the pope infallible in matters of faith and practice
1804 British Foreign and Bible Society founded to translate the Bible into as many languages as possible.
1807 British state bans slave trade
     1850 In Egypt
1829 British state emancipates Roman Catholics
1833 John Henry Newman and John Keble start Oxford Movement
1833 British state abolishes slavery throughout its empire
1840 London Missionary Society sends Dr. David Livingston to Africa

Literature
1771-1832 Walter Scott
1775-1817 Jane Austen
1797-1851 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
1809-1882 Charles Darwin
     1859 On the Origin of Species
1811-63 William Thackeray
1818-1883 Karl Marx
     1848 The Communist Manifesto, with Friedrich Engels
1819-80 George Eliot
1822-88 Matthew Arnold
1850-94 Robert Louis Stevenson
1859-1930 Arthur Conan Doyle
1857-1924 Joseph Conrad

Gallia
1769-1821 Napoleon
     1799-1804 Leader of First Republic
     1804-1815 Emperor
1858 Bernadette Soubirou sees the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes
1867-1934 Marie Curie: Early Years, Later Life
1859-1935 Alfred Dreyfus
     1894-1906 Dreyfus Affair

Literature
1802-70 Alexandre Dumas

Visual Arts
1832-1923 Gustave Eiffel
     1889 Tower
1840-1917 Auguste Rodin
1889-1914 Belle Epoque: Montmartre
1853-90 Vincent van Gogh: Finding His Way, End

Music
1810-49 Frederic Chopin
1811-86 Franz Liszt
1835-1921 Camille Saint-Saens
1862-1918 Claude Debussy
1866-1925 Eric Satie
 
Latium
1870 Italian nationalists seize control of Rome from the pope and make it the capital of a united Italy.

Germania
1768-1834 Friedrich Schleiermacher
     Barth and Schleiermacher
1815-1898 Otto von Bismarck
     1872-1879 Kulturkampf against the Roman Catholic Church
1817 King of Prussia leads union of Lutheran and Calvinist churches

Music
1809-47 Felix Mendelssohn
1813-83 Richard Wagner
1841-1904 Antonín Dvořák

Anatolia
1894-1896 Widespread murder of Armenian Christians by Ottoman state

Scandia
Literature
1813-55 Soren Kierkegaard

Music
1843-1907 Edvard Grieg

Iberia
Visual Arts
1852-1926 Antoni Gaudi

Noricum
1818-65 Ignaz Semmelweis
1860-1904 Theodor Herzl

Music
1770-1827 Ludwig van Beethoven: Early Years, Later Years
1792-1868 Gioachino Rossini
1797-1828 Franz Schubert
1811-86 Franz Liszt: Early Life, Later Life
1813-1901 Giuseppe Verdi
1825-99 Johann Straus II
1833-97 Johannes Brahms
1858-1924 Giacomo Puccini
1864-1949 Richard Strauss

Visual Arts
1859 Budapest: Great Synagogue

Anatolia
1826 Christians in Noricum and Hellas start freeing themselves from Muslim rule. Ottoman state retaliates by exiling Christians to Anatolia.

Slavia
Literature
1799-1837 Alexander Pushkin
1818-83 Ivan Turgenev
1821-81 Fyodor Dostoyevsky
1828-1910 Leo Tolstoy
1860-1904 Anton Chekhov

Music
1840-93 Peter Tchaikovsky
1844-1908 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 

     1859 Port Said

Oceania
Literature
1804-64 Nathaniel Hawthorne
1819-91 Herman Melville
1811-96 Harriet Beecher Stowe
1823-86 Mary Chesnut
1830-86 Emily Dickinson
1832-88 Louisa May Alcott
1835-1910 Mark Twain

1933-45 Catastrophe
1948 European states newly under the control of Stalin start persecuting Christians
1962-1965 Second Vatican Council

British Isles
1992 Church of England approves ordination of women

Literature
1865-1936 Rudyard Kipling
1879-1970 E. M. Forster
1882-1941 Virginia Woolf
1889-1975 Arnold Toynbee
1890-1976 Agatha Christie
1894-1963 Aldous Huxley
1903-50 George Orwell
1907-73 W. H. Auden

Visual Arts
b. 1970? "Banksy"

Music 
b. 1945 John Rutter

Gallia
1940 Taize Community founded by Roger Shutz in Burgundy

Literature
1882-1941 James Joyce
1913-60 Albert Camus
b. 1929 Milan Kundera

Visual Arts
1881-1973 Pablo Picasso
1904-89 Salvador Dali
1914 Sacre-Coeur Basilica (Paris)

Iberia
Visual Arts 
1876-1932 Lorenzo Coullaut Valera
     1930 Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (Madrid)
1897-1961 Juan Cristobal Gonzalez
     1955 El Cid (Burgos)

Germania
1889-1945 Adolf Hitler
     1933-1945 Ruler of Germany
          1933 Concordat with Pius XI
1933-45 The German Church

Literature
1883-1924 Franz Kafka
1886-1968 Karl Barth
1898-1970 Erich Maria Remarque
1906-45 Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Noricum
1912-? Raoul Wallenberg

Visual Arts
1386-1965 Milan Cathedral

Latium
Visual Arts
1911-1925 Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Rome)

Hellas
Greek state expels Muslims and Turkish state expels Christians

Anatolia
1915 Widespread murder of Armenian Christians by Ottoman state

Slavia
Literature
1891-1940 Mikhail Bulgakov
1905-64 Vasily Grossman
1918-2008 Aleksandr Solzhenitsen

Visual Arts
1883-1907 Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (St. Petersburg)
1732-1917 Winter Palace (St. Petersburg)

Music
1873-1943 Sergei Rachmaninoff
1891-1953 Sergei Prokofiev
1906-75 Dmitri Shostakovich
 
Oceania

Literature
1873-1947 Willa Cather
1896-1940 F. Scott Fitzgerald
1899-1961 Ernest Hemingway
1891-1960 Zora Neale Hurston
1902-68 John Steinbeck
1889-1968 Pitirim Sorokin
1936-2002 (aged 85) Christopher Alexander
1922-94 Philip Hallie
1927-2007 Vernard Eller

Music
1898-1937 George Gershwin
1900-90 Aaron Copland

Age of Chastened Christianity (2008-Now)

2008
Olympia
Jesus, the Church, and the Olympian Gods Today
      Jesus, the Church, and Jupiter 
      Jesus, the Church, and Mars
      Jesus, the Church, and Vulcan
      Jesus, the Church, and Venus
      Jesus, the Church, and Pluto
      Jesus, the Church, and Bacchus

Collapse of the Global Technological System
      Harmful Ways of Responding to the Civilizational Collapse We're Experiencing
      Irreversible Global Collapse Has Already Started Because of Too Much Debt
      Cause of Catastrophic Collapse: Too Much Borrowing, Too Many Derivatives
      Derivatives: Reckless Criminal Gambling Hastening Civilizational Collapse
      Preparing Ourselves for Difficulties by Thinking about All Possibilities
      Stripping Olympian Elites of Unmerited Glory
      Too Many Asset Bubbles Bursting Will Hasten Economic Collapse
      Collapse of US Dollar as World Reserved Currency

Collapse of Western Civilization
      Morris Berman on the Decline of Western Civilization
      One Sign of Civilizational Collapse: Accelerating Inequality
      More Signs: Increasing Ignorance and Spiritual Death
      Civilizational Collapse: The Example of Rome
      The Monastic Response to Rome's Fall
      Lessons on Cultural Preservation
      Discerning Our Historical Context
      Good Enlightenment Gone Bad?
      Describing a Monastic Response to Collapse
      Examples of New Monastic Individuals Today
      Possible Futures

2013 
Olympia
The Collapse of Our World and Our Creative Response to It

2014
Slavia
Music
2014 Valaam Monastery: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

2016 
Olympia
Today's Deadly Technocratic Rivalries
Certain Economic Collapse and Looming Nuclear War
Freedom from Collapsing Global Technological System Starts by Repudiating Its 1648 Roots
Will Faithfulness Follow Collapse, Denial, Idolatry, and Indifference? 

Asia
A Summary of the Continuing Fukushima Disaster
Christian Reflections on the Fukushima Disaster

Oceania
Venezuela: What Happens When Economies Collapse

2017
Olympia
How Many Thousands of Churches and Seminaries Will Soon Go Bankrupt?
Politicization of Church Will Soon Lead to Its Persecution
Which Would We Prefer: Good News,  Bad News, or No News?
Context: Meaningless Technology, Silence of God, Yet Hope
The Crisis of Olympian Leadership in the World and Our Churches
Moving Now into the Future

Oceania
Responding Nobly to the Presidency of Donald Trump
Are Hurricanes Meaningful?
How Puerto Rico Foreshadows the Near Future of the GTS

End Times
Olympia
False Saviors and Final Rebellions (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10)

New Age of Convivial Companionship

How Crowded Is Hell?
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