On June 12, 1429, Joan of Arc achieved her first offensive military victory, winning a battle near the small town of Jargeau on the southern bank of the Loire River in central France. By the end of 1428, writes historians, “the English and their…
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The Diet of Worms, convened in 1521, stands as a pivotal moment in the history of the Reformation and European religious politics. This imperial council, held in the German city of Worms, was summoned by Emperor Charles V to address the burgeoning theological controversy stirred by Martin Luther. Luther, a German…
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On May 23, 1430, amid the brutal and grinding wars that had ravaged France for nearly a century, the woman who had once turned the tide of battle at Orléans found herself surrounded, outnumbered, and—most damning of all—abandoned. Joan of Arc, the teenage peasant-turned-warrior…
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Sir Thomas More’s resignation as Lord Chancellor on May 16, 1532, did not provoke a riot in the streets or a dramatic rupture in the Tudor court—but it marked, with grave finality, the moment when one of England’s most brilliant minds stepped away from…
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On April 18, 1506, under the direction of Pope Julius II, the cornerstone of what would become one of the most iconic churches in Christendom—St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City—was laid. The event marked not only the beginning of a monumental architectural project but…
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On April 5, 1242, one of medieval Europe’s most dramatic confrontations unfolded across the frozen expanse of Lake Peipus. Known as the Battle on the Ice, the clash pitted the forces of Alexander Nevsky, prince of Novgorod, against the advancing armies of the Teutonic…
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On February 28, 2013, something happened inside Vatican City that had not occurred in nearly six centuries. Pope Benedict XVI resigned the papacy—becoming the first Bishop of Rome to do so voluntarily since Pope Gregory XII stepped down in 1415 amid the wreckage of…
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On December 22, 401 AD, Pope Innocent I ascended to the papal throne, becoming one of the most influential leaders of early Christianity. What makes his papacy especially remarkable is that he is the only pope in history confirmed to have directly succeeded his…
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On the morning of December 9, 1531, a widowed Chichimeca-Nahua convert named Juan Diego set out across the northern outskirts of Mexico City toward the Franciscan mission at Tlatelolco to attend Mass. A relatively recent convert to Christianity, Juan Diego had been baptized only…
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On November 1, 1512, All Saints Day, one of the most iconic pieces of Christian artwork was opened, and like it does today, it took people’s breath away. The History Channel writes, “Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists, was born in…
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