AD 1500-1800

By bcole21
  • 1440

    Printing Press invented

  • 1492

    Christopher Columbus sails for North America

  • 1513

    Ponce de Leon of Spain founds St. Augustine, Florida

    St. Augustine, named for St. Augustine of Hippo, was the first European settlement in what is now the United States.
  • 1517

    Martin Luther presents the 95 Theses

    In this document, Luther presented what he saw as abusive practices in the Catholic Church.
  • 1520

    Luther denies the authority of the pope to interpret Scripture

  • 1521

    Luther is excommunicated

  • 1522

    Luther translates the Bible into German

    Luther removed seven Old Testament books: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch. He also tried to change the New Testament by moving the letter of James, the letter to the Hebrews, the letters of John, and the book of Revelation into an appendix.
  • 1526

    Franciscan missionaries arrive in what is now Florida

  • 1534

    St. Ignatius of Loyola founds the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

  • 1534

    King Henry VIII of England breaks England from the Catholic Church after the pope refuses to allow him a divorce

  • 1535

    St. Thomas More is executed by Henry VIII

  • 1536

    Henry VIII dissolves all monasteries and convents in England and ireland

  • 1541

    First Franciscan explorations in what is now California

  • 1545

    The Council of Trent

    AD 1545 -

    1563
  • 1549

    Jesuit missionaries arrive in the Far East

  • Period: 1562 to 1582

    St. Teresa of Avila founds Discalced Carmelite convents throughout Spain

  • The King James Bible becomes the Bible of the Church of England

  • St. Peter Claver arrives in Colombia

  • The Mayflower sets sail from England to North America

    Separatists wishing to further “purify” the Church of England of Catholic influence leave for North America on the Mayflower. They hoped their colony would be a “city on a hill”--an example to the Church of England of the need for further reform. In the New World, many would be persecuted for their faith. Most of the first British colonies in North America legally exclude Catholics, Quakers, and others from participation in public life.

  • The Colony of Maryland is established

    Maryland will be the first colony to allow religious freedom for Catholics. Jesuit priests there will offer the first Holy Mass in the British colonies.

  • England overthrows its Catholic king and bans any future Catholic monarchs

  • Maryland outlaws the public practice of Catholicism in the colony

  • The Enlightenment

    AD 1715 -

    1789

  • British colonies in North America declare their independence

  • The French Revolution begins

    One of the goals of the revolution was to turn France into a completely secular nation and rid it of Christianity. Church property was seized, and many priests and religious were persecuted, imprisoned, and killed.

  • The US Constitution prevents religious tests for national office

  • The First Amendment protects free religious exercise in the US and prevents national government from establishing a religion.

    States were free to keep their established churches, and many did into the early 1800s.