A Reformation Timeline

1400

1436 —

• John Gutenberg invents movable-type printing press

1444 —

• First European slave market, Lagos, Portugal

1448 —

• Portuguese establish first trading post in Africa

1449 —

• Lorenzo de’ Medici born, January 1

1450

1450 —

• Portuguese bring African slaves to Cape Verde Islands
• Inca Empire flourishes in Peru

1451 —

• The Vatican Library founded
• Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa orders Jews in the Netherlands to wear identification badges

1452 —

• Leonardo da Vinci born, April 15

1453 —

• Constantinople falls to the Turks

1455 —

• Gutenberg Bible printed

1456 —

• Pope sees comet; calls for prayer against “The Devil, the Turk, and the Comet”

1457 —

• King James II of Scotland bans football (soccer) and golf for distracting young men from combat training

1459 —

• Jacob Fugger, Imperial banker, born, March 6

1463 —

• Frederick the Wise born, January 17

1465 —

• Johann Staupitz born

1466 —

• Erasmus born

1468 —

• John the Steadfast born, June 30

1472 —

• Lucas Cranach the Elder born in Kronach, Oberfranken

1473 —

• Copernicus born, February 19

1475

1475 —

• Michelangelo born, March 6

1481 —

• Spanish Inquisition against Jews, Muslims, and heretics begins

1483 —

• Raphael, artist, born, April 16
• Martin Luther born in Eisleben, November 10; baptized November 11
• Nicholas Amsdorf born, December 3

1484 —

• Ulrich Zwingli born, January 1
• Papal bull condemns witchcraft; inquisitors sent to Germany

1485 —

• John Bugenhagen born at Wellin, Pomerania, June 24
• Gregory Brück born at Belzig
• Botticelli paints The Birth of Venus

1486 —

• John Eck born, November 13

1487 —

• Diaz sails around the Cape of Good Hope

1492 —

• Columbus reaches the Americas
• First lead pencils used
• Corn discovered by Columbus
• First known reference to tobacco
• Ferdinand and Isabella expel 100,000 Jews from Spain

1493 —

• Justas Jonas born in Nordhausen, June 5
• Pope divides discoveries in the New World between Spain and Portugal

1494 —

• Charles VIII of France invades Italy
• Sulayman the Magnificent born, November 6
• Earliest report of Scots making whiskey

1495 —

• Da Vinci begins painting Last Supper; completed 1497
• William Tyndale born in Slymbridge, England

1496 —

• Michelangelo begins sculpting Pieta
• Santo Domingo founded in New World
• Pope Alexander VI gives his son as hostage to Charles VIII of France

1497 —

• Philip Melanchthon born, February 16
• Copernicus makes first recorded European astronomical observations, March 9
• Dürer publishes Apocalypse woodcuts
• Hans Holbein the Younger, artist, born in Augsburg
• Savonarola hanged in Florence, May 23
• John Cabot discovers Newfoundland

1498 —

• Vasco de Gama reaches India
• Toothbrush invented

1499 —

• Katharina von Bora born in Lippendorf, January 29
• John Brentz born in Weil, Württemberg, June 24
• Louis XII of France seizes Milan

1500

1500 —

• Charles V born in Ghent, February 24
• Pope Alexander VI proclaims Jubilee Year; calls for crusade against Turks
• Aldus Manutius, Italian printer who founded the Venice Academy for the study of Greek classics and invented Italic type, born
• World population estimated at 400 million, 100 million in Europe and Russia

1501 —

• Luther enters University of Erfurt (receives Master of Arts in philosophy, 1505)

1502 —

• Michelangelo begins sculpting David
• Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, founds University of Wittenberg
• First portable timepiece created in Nürnberg

1503 —

• John Frederick the Magnanimous born at Torgau, June 30
• Da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa

1504 —

• Philip of Hesse born in Marburg, November 13

1505 —

• Luther in thunderstorm, July 2; enters monastery, July 17

1506 —

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

1507 —

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

1508 —

• Michelangelo begins painting Sistine Chapel; completed 1512
• Luther appointed substitute lecturer in moral philosophy at University of Wittenberg

1509 —

• John Calvin born in Noyon, France, July 10
• Luther obtains Bachelor of Theology degree, March 9; returns to Erfurt
• Henry VIII becomes king of England
• Pope Julius II excommunicates the city of Venice

1510

1510 —

• First African slaves brought to the New World (Haiti)
• Luther sent to Rome on mission for Augustinian order
• Wheelock firearm introduced in Nürnberg, Germany

1511 —

• Luther sent to Wittenberg University to serve as professor, takes over chair of Staupitz at Wittenberg

1512 —

• Luther awarded Doctor of Theology degree, October 18–19
• Fifth Lateran Council begins; ends in 1517

1513 —

• Ponce de Leon reaches Florida
• Portuguese explorers reach China
• Balboa reaches Pacific Ocean
• Pope Leo X begins pontificate, March 11
• Luther’s “tower experience,” spring
• Luther begins lectures on Psalms

1514 —

• Albert of Brandenburg, cardinal, Archbishop of Mainz, and elector, begins his reign

1515 —

• Luther begins lectures on Romans
• Index of Prohibited Books adopted at Fifth Lateran Council
• Coffee from Arabia appears in Europe

1516 —

• Erasmus publishes Novum Instrumentum, first Greek New Testament
• Luther begins first lecture series on Galatians
• Reinheitsgebot law enacted in Bavaria to assure pure beer
• Music printed on engraved plates used for first time in Italy

1517 —

• Pope Leo X declares indulgence for rebuilding of St. Peter’s
• Luther nails Ninety-Five Theses to Castle Church door in Wittenberg, October 31
• Hernandez de Cordoba reaches Yucatán
• Hernando Cortes reaches Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)

1518 —

• Philip Melanchthon comes to Wittenberg University
• Heidelberg Disputation, April
• Process against Luther begins in Rome
• Luther appears before Cardinal Cajetan in Augsburg, October–November
• Luther appeals to General Council, refuses to recant
• Frederick the Wise refuses to surrender Luther, December
• Forks first used at a banquet in Vienna

1519 —

• Leonardo da Vinci dies, May 2
• Ulrich Zwingli begins preaching on New Testament
• Charles V elected Holy Roman Emperor, June 28
• Leipzig Debate between Luther and Eck, July

1520

1520 —

• Matthias Flacius born, March 3
• Raphael, artist, dies, April 6
• Leo X issues papal bull Exsurge Domine, giving Luther sixty days to recant or be excommunicated, June 15
• Lucas Cranach the Elder creates first portrait of Martin Luther, an engraving
• Luther burns the papal bull and a copy of Canon Law, December 10
• Montezuma II, last Aztec ruler, dies
• Chocolate brought from Mexico to Spain

1521 —

• Luther excommunicated by papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, January 3
• Hans Holbein the Younger paints The Dead Christ
• Luther appears before Diet of Worms and refuses to recant, April 17–18
• Charles V issues Edict of Worms, declaring Luther a public outlaw and criminal and making it illegal to have Luther’s books, May 25
• Sulayman conquers Belgrade, August
• Frederick the Wise hides Luther at the Wartburg Castle for eleven months
• Luther translates New Testament into German, from December to March 1522
• Philip Melanchthon publishes first Lutheran dogmatic text, Loci Theologici
• Anabaptist Thomas Münzer begins preaching against infant Baptism
• Hernando Cortes conquers Mexico

1522 —

• Luther returns from Wartburg, March 6
• Luther preaches the Invocavit Sermons against excesses of the Zwickau prophets
• Ban on Luther lifted
• Magellan’s ship, the Victoria, completes circumnavigation of globe, September 6
• Luther’s translation of the New Testament published, September 21
• Martin Chemnitz born at Treuenbrietzen, November 9
• Luther writes Personal Prayer Book, predecessor of Small Catechism
• Charles V establishes Inquisition in Spanish Netherlands; over 2,000 killed
• Ulrich Zwingli begins Reformation in Zurich
• Bible printed in Spain in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Arabic

1523 —

• Escaped nuns from Nimbschen, including Katharina von Bora, arrive in Wittenberg, April 7
• Heinrich Voes and John Esch, first Lutheran martyrs, burned at stake in Antwerp, July 1
• Luther’s translation of the Pentateuch published, summer
• Luther writes his first hymn
• Luther writes The Baptismal Booklet

1524 —

• Peasants’ War begins, led in part by Thomas Münzer
• Luther’s translation of Psalter published
• Luther resumes lecturing in Wittenberg
• Luther stops wearing monk’s clothing, October
• Achtliederbuch (A Book of Eight Hymns), first Lutheran hymnal, published by John Walter and Luther
• John Staupitz dies, December 28

1525

1525 —

• George Blaurock is rebaptized by Conrad Grebel; marks formal beginning of Anabaptist movement
• Frederick the Wise dies, May 5
• John the Steadfast, brother of Frederick, becomes Elector of Saxony
• Luther marries Katharina von Bora, June 13
• Luther’s German Mass first used, December 25
• Luther’s Personal Prayer Book revised and reissued
• William Tyndale visits Luther in Wittenberg; influenced by Luther’s translation, Tyndale’s English translation of the New Testament is printed in Worms; over 18,000 copies eventually smuggled into England
• First Lutheran ordination takes place in Wittenberg
• Luther works on new church order for Saxony

1526 —

• Albrecht Dürer paints The Four Apostles
• Diet of Speyer grants German princes right to establish religion in their territory
• Church visitation begins to assess needs of congregations
• Hans Luther born, June 7
• Sulayman captures all of Hungary, Battle of Mohács, August 29

1527 —

• Plague strikes Wittenberg; the Luthers turn their home into a hospital
• Luther writes “A Mighty Fortress”
• Mutinous troops of Charles V sack Rome, May
• Elizabeth Luther born, December 10

1528 —

• Patrick Hamilton, Lutheran martyr, executed, February 29
• Jacob Andreae born in Waiblingen, March 25
• Albrecht Dürer dies, April 6
• Elizabeth Luther dies, August 3
• Melanchthon prepares Visitation Articles for inspection of Lutheran pastors and congregations in Saxony; Luther participates in one visitation in October
• Luther writes his Confession concerning Christ’s Supper

1529 —

• Second Diet of Speyer, April, results in the issue of the Protestio, hence giving rise to the label “Protestant,” which the Romanists applied to all who agreed with Luther
• Luther publishes Large Catechism, April, and Small Catechism, May
• Magdalena Luther born, May 4
• Luther, Melanchthon, and Zwingli meet for Marburg Colloquy; unable to agree on Lord’s Supper, October 2–4
• Turks unsuccessfully lay siege to Vienna
• Schwabach Articles written by Luther and others, presented October 16
• Marburg Articles written by Luther
• Sulayman and his Turkish armies lay siege to Vienna

1530

1530 —

• Torgau Articles prepared by Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, and Jonas
• John Eck writes the Four Hundred and Four Articles
• Luther stays at Coburg Castle, April–October
• Augsburg Confession presented to Charles V at Diet of Augsburg, June 25
• Roman Confutation presented, August 3

1531 —

• David Chytraeus born in Ingelfingen, February 26
• Formation of Smalcaldic League, February 27
• Augsburg Confession and Apology published, April–May
• Second edition of Apology (the Octavo edition) published, September
• Ulrich Zwingli dies on Swiss battlefield at Kappel am Albis, October 11
• Martin Luther (son of Martin and Katharina) born, November 9
• Comet appears, eventually known as “Halley’s Comet”

1532 —

• John the Steadfast dies, August 15; his son, John Frederick the Magnanimous becomes Elector with John Ernest
• Religious Peace of Nürnberg signed
• Sulayman repulsed at Vienna; goes no further
• Luther publishes An Admonition to Prayer against the Turks

1533 —

• Paul Luther born, January 28
• Ivan IV (“the Terrible”) becomes Russian czar at age 3
• English King Henry VIII excommunicated, July 11

1534 —

• Hans Lufft publishes first edition of Luther’s complete German Bible; by 1574, Lufft had printed over 100,000 copies of the Luther Bible
• Ignatius of Loyola founds Society of Jesus (Jesuits), August 15
• First complete edition of Luther’s Bible commentaries published
• Henry VIII declares himself to be head of the Church of England
• Margarethe Luther born, December 17

1535

1535 —

• Luther begins his last major lecture series, on Genesis

1536 —

• Luther, Melanchthon, and Englishmen Edward Fox and Robert Barnes agree to complete Wittenberg Concord; rejected by Zwinglians
• John Calvin publishes first edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion
• Martyrdom of William Tyndale in Belgium, October 6
• Norway becomes Lutheran
• Menno Simons assumes leadership of Anabaptists
• Henry VIII allows English Bible in England
• John Frederick commissions Luther to prepare articles for the meeting of the Smalcaldic League, December 1

1537 —

• Melanchthon writes Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope for the Smalcaldic League

1538 —

• Luther’s Smalcald Articles published

1539 —

• First volume of Luther’s collected works appears, completed 1558
• Saxony and electoral Brandenburg formally become Lutheran
• Catholic Counter-Reformation begins in earnest

1540

1540 —

• Melanchthon’s Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope published
• Melanchthon publishes his revised Augsburg Confession, the Variata
• Martyrdom of Robert Barnes, Lutheran Confessor, in England, July 30
• Wittenberg holds first celebration of anniversary of the Gutenberg press
• Society of Jesus (Jesuits) confirmed by pope, September

1541 —

• De Soto reaches the Mississippi River, May 8
• Council of Regensburg attempts unity between Rome and Lutherans on justification; the compromise of justification is rejected by John Frederick and others
• Nicholas von Amsdorf consecrated as Bishop of Naumburg-Zeitz by Luther
• Calvin initiates the Reformation in Geneva, which he establishes as a “City of God”

1542 —

• John Frederick the Magnanimous becomes sole ruler of Saxony
• Magdalena Luther dies, September 20
• Portuguese traders first Westerners to reach Japan

1543 —

• John Eck dies, February 13
• Copernicus’s On the Revolution of Heavenly Bodies, describing a sun-centered universe, published
• Copernicus dies, May 24
• Territory of Braunschweig becomes Calvinist
• Spanish Catholics begin to burn Protestants at the stake

1544 —

• Another diet at Speyer appears to grant major concessions to the Lutherans
• First church built to be Lutheran, Torgau Castle Chapel, dedicated by Luther, October 5
• Sweden declares Lutheranism to be state religion

1545

1545 —

• Council of Trent’s first sessions, 1545–47
• Fifth edition of Luther’s Bible, the last under his supervision, is published
• First complete edition of Luther’s writings in Latin is published

1546 —

• Luther preaches his last sermon, February 14
• Luther dies at Eisleben, February 18
• Luther is buried at Castle Church in Wittenberg, February 22
• Electoral Palatinate becomes Lutheran

1547 —

• Smalcaldic League defeated by Charles V at Battle of Mühlberg, April 24
• John Frederick the Magnanimous taken captive in battle and exiled to Weimar
• Wittenberg surrendered to save itself and the lives of John Frederick’s wife and sons
• Luther’s Small Catechism is first book printed in Lithuania

1548 —

• Augsburg Interim published, May 15
• John Frederick the Magnanimous founds Jena College
• Adiaphoristic controversy begins
• Leipzig Interim presented by Maurice, December

1549 —

• Francis Xavier introduces Christianity in Japan
• Matthias Flacius moves to Magdeburg, November 9

1550

1550 —

• Calvin writes the Consensus Tigurinus to merge Zwingli and Calvinist views of the Lord’s Supper
• Charles V commands the death penalty for all heresy in the Holy Roman Empire

1551 —

• Council of Trent holds more sessions, 1551–52

1552 —

• Maurice turns against Charles V, April 5, who then is forced to grant limited legal rights to Lutherans in signing the peace treaty of Passau, August 2
• John Frederick the Magnanimous released from captivity (September 1), moves electoral capital to Weimar
• Katharina von Bora dies in Torgau, December 20
• Joachim Westphal publishes treatise fully exposing Calvinist error on Lord’s Supper

1553 —

• Maurice is killed trying to enforce the peace treaty of Passau, July 9
• Augustus I becomes Elector of all of Saxony
• Lucas Cranach the Elder dies in Weimar, October 16
• Mary Tudor begins her reign, attempts to return England to Catholicism

1554 —

• John Frederick the Magnanimous dies, March 3

1555

1555 —

• Peace of Augsburg allows Lutherans equal rights in Holy Roman Empire
• Justas Jonas dies in Eisfeld, October 5
• Pope Paul IV begins pontificate, makes stamping out Protestantism high priority
• Pfeffinger publishes treatise on human cooperation in salvation, occasions Synergist controversy

1556—

• Charles V abdicates throne, retires to monastery in Spain

1557—

• Gregory Brück dies at Jena, February 15
• Colloquy of Worms (to unite Lutherans and Catholics) fails

1558 —

• Elizabeth I becomes queen of England, restores Reformation via Calvinism
• College of Jena becomes the University of Jena; becomes stronghold of authentic Lutheranism, supplanting Wittenberg
• John Bugenhagen dies in Wittenberg, April 20
• Charles V dies in Spain, September 21

1559 —

• Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna enters Pensacola Bay, Florida, August 14
• John Knox brings Calvinism to Scotland

1560

1560 —

• Philip Melanchthon dies, April 19

1561 —

• Naumburg Conference attempts to unite Lutherans; effort fails when it rejects second edition of Augsburg Confession and Apology
• Chemnitz publishes The Lord’s Supper and Judgment on Certain Controversies

1563 —

• Council of Trent ends, settling Roman doctrine and establishing Roman Catholic Church
• Council of Trent orders clothes to be painted on nude figures on Michelangelo’s Last Judgment panel in Sistine chapel
• Heidelberg Catechism approved, widely adopted by Reformed churches

1564 —

• Galileo born, February 15
• Michelangelo dies, February 18
• Martin Luther (son of Martin and Katharina) dies, March 2
• William Shakespeare born, April 23
• John Calvin dies in Geneva, May 27
• Bullinger’s Second Helvetic Confession is adopted by many Reformed churches
• Andreas Vesalius’s death sentence for dissecting human bodies commuted in exchange for his pilgrimage to the Holy Land

1565 —

• Nicholas Amsdorf dies in Eisenach, May 14
• Martin Chemnitz begins writing Examination of the Council of Trent (completed 1573)

1567 —

• Philip of Hesse dies in Kassel, March 31

1568 —

• Martin Chemnitz and Jacob Andreae begin work on uniting Lutheran territories and cities

1570

1570 —

• Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth
• John Brenz dies in Stuttgart, September 11
• Margarethe Luther Kuhnheim dies

1571 —

• The Thirty-Nine Articles establishes a more Calvinist form of Reformation in England

1572 —

• St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Protestant Huguenots in France, August 24–September 17

1573 —

• Jacob Andreae publishes Six Christian Sermons
• Roman Confutation of the Augsburg Confession finally published

1574 —

• Crypto-Calvinists fully exposed in Wittenberg
• Lutheranism restored by Augustus I
• Swabian Concord published

1575 —

• Matthias Flacius dies, March 11
• Hans Luther dies, October 27

1576 —

• Torgau Conference called by Elector Augustus I to begin Lutheran unity efforts
• Formula of Concord’s “Epitome” (the “Torgau Book”) completed by Jacob Andreae

1577 —

• Formula of Concord’s “Solid Declaration” completed at Bergen Abbey, Magdeburg
• Francis Drake begins circumnavigating globe

1578 —

• Chemnitz publishes Two Natures in Christ

1580

1580 —

• Book of Concord published on the fiftieth anniversary of presentation of Augsburg Confession, June 25

1582 —

• Gregorian calendar implemented by Pope Gregory XIII
• Conference at Quedlinburg, in which the authoritative Latin edition of the Book of Concord is approved, begins, December–January 1583

1584 —

• Latin Book of Concord published in Leipzig

1586 —

• Martin Chemnitz dies in Braunschweig, April 8
• Colony of Roanoke established in Virginia

1588 —

• English defeat Spanish Armada

1590

1590 —

• Jacob Andreae dies in Tübingen, January 7

1592 —

• Saxon Visitation Articles published; Calvinism rooted out in Saxony
• Galileo invents the thermometer

1593 —

• Diet of Uppsala in Sweden upholds Lutheran doctrine
• Paul Luther dies, March 8

1595 —

• Zacharias Janssen develops compound microscope
• René Descartes, a key leader of the Enlightenment, born, March 31

1598 —

• Formula of Concord subscribed in Strasbourg
• French King Henry IV grants religious freedom to Protestants via Edict of Nantes, April 13

1600

1600 —

• Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for support of Copernican astronomy, February 17
• David Chytraeus dies in Rostock, June 25
• First performance of Hamlet at Globe Theater

1618 —

• Thirty Years’ War begins