A TIMELINE OF CHURCH HISTORY

A timeline of church history is important because it helps us understand how Christianity developed from the time of Jesus Christ to the present day. It shows the major events, leaders, councils, and movements that shaped the Church over the centuries. 

A timeline of church history is an essential tool for understanding the development of Christianity. It reveals how the Church has grown, faced challenges, preserved the Christian faith, and spread the message of Jesus Christ throughout the world for nearly two thousand years.

	1 AD– 200 AD	200 AD – 400 AD	400 AD– 600 AD	600 AD – 800 AD	800 AD – 1000 AD
PEOPLE	Peter (d.c.67) Paul (d.c.67) Ignatius (d.117) Polycarp (c.69–160) Justin Martyr (c.100–165) Tertullian (c.160-c.220) Origen (c.185– c.254)	Anthony of Thebes (c.251–356) Constantine (d.337) Athanasius (c.296–373) Jerome (c.345–420) Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Patrick (c.390–c.461)	Leo I (d.461) Boethius (c.480–524) Benedict of Nursia (480–c.543) Gregory I (c.540–604)	Charlemagne (742–814) Nicholas I (d.867)
EVENTS	Pentecost (c.33) Paul’s Missionary Journeys (c.46–c.57) Neronian Persecution (64) Fall of Jerusalem (70) Completion of New Testament (c.95)	Edict of Milan (313) Council of Nicea (325) Council of Constantinople (371) Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire (381)	Latin Vulgate (c.400) Augustine’s The City of God (427) Council of Ephesus (431) Council of Chalcedon (451) Fall of Roman Empire in the West (476) Council of Orange (529)	Muslim Conquest (633–732) Iconoclastic Controversy (725–843) Donation of Pepin (752)	Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor (800) Donation of Constantine (c.800) Cluny monastery founded (910)

	1000 AD –    1200 AD	1200 AD –       1400 AD	1400 AD–   1600 AD	1600 AD –    1800 AD	1800 AD – 2000 AD
PEOPLE	Gregory VII (c.1033– 1085) Anselm (c.1033– 1109) Peter Abelard (c.1079– 1142) Bernard Of Clairvaux (1090– 1153) Richard I (1157– 1199) Innocent III (1160–1216) Francis of Assisi (1182 -1226)	Thomas Aquinas (1224–1274) Boniface VIII (d.1303) John Wycliffe (c.1329–1384) John Huss (1373–1415)	Savonarola (1452–1498) Desiderius Erasmus (c.1466–1536) Leo X (1475– 1521) Martin Luther (1483–1546) Henry VIII (1491–1547) Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) John Calvin (1509–1564)	John Bunyan (1628– 1688) Philip Spener (1635– 1705) Cotton Mather (1663– 1728) Joseph Butler (1692– 1752) Jonathan Edwards (1703– 1791) John Wesley (1703– 1791) George Whitefield (1714–1770) William Wilberforce (1759–1833) William Carey (1761–1834) Charles Finney (1792–1875) Charles Hodge (1797–1878)	William Booth (1829– 1912) Dwight L. Moody (1837– 1899) Abraham Kuyper (1837– 1920) Albert Schweitzer (1875– 1965) J. Gresham Machen (1881– 1937) Karl Barth (1886– 1968) Francis Schaeffer (1912–1985) Billy Graham (b.1918)
EVENTS	Great Schism (1054) Crusades (1095–1291)	Fourth Lateran Council (1215) Magna Carta (1215) Aquinas’s Summa Theologica (1273) “Babylonian Captivity” of the Papacy (1309–1378) Great Papal Schism (1378–1417)	Council of Constance (1414–1418) Fall of Constantinople (1453) Gutenberg Bible (c.1460) Ninety-five Theses (1517) Diet of Worms (1521) Jesuits founded (1534) Council of Trent (1545– 1563) Spanish Armada (1588) Edict of Nantes (1598)	King James Bible (1611) Pilgrims land (1620) Westminster Assembly (1643– 1649) First Great Awakening (c.1725– c.1760)	First Vatican Council (1870) Edinburgh Conference (1910) Second Vatican Council (1962– 1965)