Timeline: Christianity and its material culture

Period: 201 to 600

The cult of saints began

"The bones of martyrs were believed to provide evidence of God’s power at work in the world, producing miracles and spectacles of the effectiveness of faith." ~ Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Relics-and-saints

325

Council of Nicea meets in Rome to form the Nicene Creed (doctrine of Christianity)

Church leaders are all brought together from across the Roman Empire by Christian Emperor Constantine (the first Roman Emperor to convert from paganism - the Gods - to Christianity or one God)

Period: 596 to 1001

Early Christianity

597

St Augustine brought Christianity to Britain

He was sent from Rome as a missionary by Pope Gregory and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury

597

Canterbury Cathedral is built

1005

Malcom II ascends to the Scottish throne

1034

Duncan I becomes King of Scots

1040

Macbeth ascends to throne after defeating Duncan. Becomes first scot king to pilgrimage to Rome

1045

St Margaret of Scotland is born

Jul 16, 1054

Eastern Empire and Church becomes Orthodox and separates from Catholic West

1057

Malcolm III ascends to throne after killing Macbeth

Period: 1058 to 1093

Malcolm and Margaret's reign

1060

Duncan II born to Malcolm and Margaret

1068

Margaret, an English princess, arrives in Dunfermline after her father loses the Battle of Hastings

1070

Margaret and Malcolm marry

1072

Dunfermline Abbey is founded by Margaret and she invites Benedictine monks from Canterbury over

1084

David I born

"The youngest son of Malcolm III and St. Margaret. A modernising king, responsible for transforming his kingdom largely by continuing the work of Anglicisation begun by his mother. He seems to have spent as much time in England as he did in Scotland" https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Kings-Queens-of-Scotland/

1093

Margaret and Malcolm die and are buried at the Abbey

Nov 16, 1093

St Margaret dies

1107

Edgar (their son) is buried at Dunfermline

Period: 1107 to 1124

Alexander I (M and m son) reign

Period: 1124 to 1153

David I (son of M and M) reign

1126

Alexander I Construction work to raise the towers on the Nave. Window above put in.

Done

1150

David I raises the church to Abbey status. Became a colony for 13 Benedictine monks from Canterbury

1153

David is buried at Dunfermline

1162

Thomas Becket becomes Archbishop

Dec 29, 1170

Thomas Becket's murder at Canterbury Cathedral

King Henry II was frustrated because Becket's allegiance had changed from the King to the Pope. His words of frustration were overhead and misunderstood by four knights who took them as an order to dispose of Becket

Dec 29, 1170

Becket's first relic is formed and a paralytic woman is reported to be cured

After his death, some cloth soaking up B's blood was kept and instantly regarded as a powerful relic
Reports of B's blood healing a paralytic woman started to circulate and draw attention to the cathedral cue pilgrimage

1171

Becket's tomb in the Crypt is made open to the public to visit

Reports of miracles surrounding his tomb (which effectively was a powerful relic) started to circulate and attract people to come pilgrimage
Placed in a foramina tomb... Figure 3 This was basically a tomb made of stone that visitors could put their head in to see / feel close to Becket without being able to take a piece of him with them lol
Lots of free access to the tomb
People leaving gifts, donations and votive offerings... crutches as a symbol of cures.

1173

Becket gains official saint status

Jul 7, 1220

Becket's tomb and brand new shrine is moved from the underground Crypt to Trinity Chapel

Brilliant gold and bright coloured tomb that was bejewelled
More accessible in some ways but heavily guarded with a metal grille

Jul 7, 1220

Access to Becket's golden reliquary was limited

Jul 7, 1220

Miracle windows displaying all the alleged miracles between 1170 and 1220

1250

Margaret's shrine is canonised

1274

Robert the Bruce born

1286

Alexander is buried

1304

A lot of D.A was burned

Period: 1306 to 1329

Reign of Robert the Bruce

1314

Becket's skull relic was encased in a gold, jewelled reliquary

Jun 24, 1314

Robert the Bruce secures Scottish independence at the Battle of Bannockburn

1329

RTB dies and is buried in the Abbey. His heart was taken to Melrose Abbey

1350

Fig 5 and 6 Pilgrimage Badges from Canterbury

1450

North porch added to medieval Nave

Nov 10, 1483

Martin Luther is born

Jun 28, 1491

Henry VIII is born

1500

Figure 2 - Last Judgement painting

Representing ideas of purgatory and repentance... the material culture used to make Christian beliefs tangible, physical and an incentive to carry out indulgences

Jun 11, 1509

Henry marries Catherine of Aragon

Nov 24, 1514

John Knox is born

Oct 31, 1517

Martin Luther nails his anti-Catholic thesis to the Church door, becoming a catalyst for protest and reform all across Europe

He criticises the Catholic Church for "not acting in accordance with the teachings of the New Testament"

Period: Oct 31, 1517 to 1648

The Reformation Period

1520

A Treatise on Good Work is published

Luther criticises the material culture of religion stating that "salvation lay in faith in Jesus, not in 'good works' that could be done without faith to try to 'buy' salvation" p319 OU book. The idea that "the material culture of pilgrimage, and the grandeur of many church interiors, were distractions away from the serious business of working towards one's own salvation" p320

1533

Henry VIII starts to challenge the Pope's authority

Because he wants to divorce Catherine of Aragon for Anne bae-lyn but Catholic religion does not permit it. The pope refuses

1533

Henry divorce COA

1534

England breaks from Roman Cath church and Henry becomes the Supreme Head of the Church of England

Parliament's passage of the Act of Supremacy in 1534 confirmed the break between the church and state. Henry effectively turned Britain into a theocracy

Dec 8, 1542