Christians Who Influenced Our World: Pre-Reformation

Augustine

1000 years later, Protestant Reformers used his writings to support their views that the Bible teaches our salvation is by grace through faith. For he believed God's sovereignty and grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom. Defined original sin as keeping man in bondage, until released by God's grace.

Samuel the Confessor

A Byzantine imperial envoy attempted to convince the desert monks to confess the Chalcedonian faith. The Council of Chalcedon (451) had affirmed that Christ had both divine and human natures in one person. The Coptic monk seized the imperial letter and rent it into pieces saying, "Excommunicated is this tome and everyone who believes in it and cursed is everyone who might change the Orthodox faith of our Holy Fathers." Seized with anger, the envoy ordered the monk to be beaten with pins and to be hanged up by his arms, and that his face be struck, which put out one of his eyes.

Bernard

A concern of this French abbot was that towards the close of the 11th century a spirit of independence flourished within schools of philosophy and theology. This led for a time to the exaltation of human reason and rationalism. The movement found an ardent and powerful advocate in Peter Abelard, the most popular teacher at the University of Paris. In 1139 the abbot influenced a papal council in Rome to denounce the teachings of Abelard, who represented what the Clairvaux abbot opposed In the rational approach to divine understanding that the scholastics adopted.

Peter Abelard

A local French synod declared his rational approach to the Trinity heretical, and he was made to burn his book on theology before being shut up in a monastery, which he hated. There his main joy was confusing other monks with his command of all the literature of church history. Later he was allowed to leave for a wilderness area, where he became a hermit in a brush cabin. Students flocked from Paris to live around him in huts to hear his teaching. Later he served as abbot in a lawless area of Brittany for ten years. He was able to help make Heloise the respected abbess of his old hermit community, which he frequented.

Benedict of Nursia

A major part of his monastic rules revolved around a mystical method of Bible meditation, later named lectio divina (Latin for divine reading of the Bible). He transformed a traditional contemplative practice into very popular use, even today. It involves scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word.

Macrina the Younger

Abbess of Cappadocian Convent (Turkey), 324-379: Two of the three Cappadocian Fathers were her younger brothers: Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nyssa. Her father arranged for her to marry but her fiance died before the wedding. She then devoted herself to her Savior and the Scriptures, becoming a nun. Lived her entire life on her father's estate, yet her zeal for Christ shaped a family that shaped world. Popularized female monasteries. Honored as one of the most prominent nuns of the Eastern Church.

Bernard

Abbot of Clairvaux Monsastery (France), 1091-1153: Expanded monastic Cistercian Order. Powerful monk who stressed the importance of a mystical union with God. Believed theological reasoning was dangerous and demanded priority of faith in preference to logic. Stressed importance of mystical union with God. Was a reformer locked in past writings of Church Fathers. He was admitted at 18 into the Cistercian order. Three years later in 1115, he was sent with 12 monks to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing that became famous as Clairvaux (France). Disciples flocked to Clairvaux in great numbers.

John Cassian

Abbot of Marseilles Monastery (France), 360-435: Bridge between East and West Monasticism. Was a Latin monk that wandered around monasteries from Bethlehem to Egyptian deserts to France. Established first Western monastery (415) in Marseilles (France), which served as a model for later monastic development. His achievements and writings influenced Benedict, who incorporated many of the principles into his own monastic rule.

Benedict of Nursia

Abbot of Monte Cassino (Italy), 480-547: Father of Western Monasticism. Born into Roman nobility, at age 20 he abandoned his studies, famlly estate, and Rome. Became a hermit monk and in three years was appointed abbot of a nearby monastery. That appointment ended in failure, and according to legend the monks wished him dead. However later he founded 12 monasteries and eventually founded the famous monastery at Monte Cassino and the monastic order bearing his name.

Gregory VII - Hildebrand

After Muslim attacks on the Christians in the East, this pope conceived a great military expedition to recover the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, foreshadowing the First Crusade. Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV attempted to control the appointment of bishops within Western Europe and with the support of German bishops disposed the pope. The pope then excommunicated and dethroned Henry (1076). To retain his throne against rebellious German nobility, Henry was forced to walk in harsh winter to Canossa (Italy) in penitence to the pope, who cancelled the excommunication.

Samuel the Confessor

After his return to Mt Qalamoun from Berber enslavement, he prophesied and then witnessed the Arab invasion of Egypt in 641. He is most famous for his torture at the hands of the Chalcedonian Monothelite Byzantines, for his witness of the Arab invasion of Egypt, and for having built the Qalamoun monastery. He carries the label "confessor" because he endured torture for his Christian faith, but was not a martyr. Venerated in all Oriental Orthodox Churches but especially by the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

After his unjust execution, his teachings aroused anti-Catholic and anti-German feelings that led to the Bohemian Peasant Wars (1420-36) that bear his name. (Peasants used hand-held guns for the first time in this war.) Catholic Holy Roman Empire forces could not defeat the religiously motivated rebels. Such reforming forces defeated five consecutive papal crusades against his followers. A century later, as many as 90% of inhabitants of the Czech lands were non-Catholic and followed the teachings of this reformer and his successors. Peace came when religious liberties were granted in exchange for loyalty to pope.

Samuel the Confessor

After leaving Scetes, this persecuted Coptic monk dwelt in Mount Qalamoun (Egypt), where he founded a monastery that carries his name to this day. Later the monk also suffered at the hands of sun-worshiping Berbers who took him captive for some time. When the Berbers failed to convince him to worship the sun, it is reported they tied his leg with an iron chain to that of a maiden, and sent them to attend the camels, hoping that the maiden would seduce and win him as a sun-worshipper. Yet he remained strong in his Christian faith. Eventually, after healing his master's son who was on the verge of death, he was released and permitted to return to Mount Qalamoun.

Ephrem

After the Persian Empire conquered the region from Byzantine, he moved the school Nisibis in 363 to Edessa (Turkey). Edessa was filled with Arians, Marcionites, Manichees, Gnostics, and other anti-Nicene heresies. There he wrote many hymns to help Christians learn the Nicene affirmations. It's claimed that he rehearsed all-female choirs to sing his hymns set to Syriac folk tunes in the city forum of Edessa. After a ten-year residency in Edessa, he died from a plague, as he ministered to its victims.

Cosmas Indicopleustes

Alexandrian Businessman-Missionary (Church of the East), 6th Century: One of the world's first world geographers. His name includes a title that refers to sailing to India. Was an Alexandrian merchant and later hermit monk. As a 6th-century traveler, he made several voyages to India during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Was a pupil of the East Syrian Patriarch Aba I and was himself follower of the Church of the East.

Theodoret

Along with Diodorus and Theodore, this bishop from Cyrrhus was no less hated by the Monophysites than they hated Nestorius himself, and held by them as heretical. However, with evangelistic fervor, he converted more than 1,000 Marcionites dualist in his diocese, besides many Arians and Macedonians. His philanthropic and economic interests were extensive and varied. He endeavored to secure relief for the people oppressed with taxation; he divided his inheritance among the poor. From his episcopal revenues he erected baths, bridges, halls, and aqueducts. To the persecuted Christians of Persian Armenia, he sent letters of encouragement, and to the Carthaginian Celestiacus, who had fled the rule of the Vandals, he gave refuge.

Bridget

Although she never returned to Sweden, the years of this abbess in Rome were far from happy, being hounded by debts and opposition to her work against Church abuses. She became the most celebrated Catholic Christian of Sweden. However, save for occasional pilgrimages including one to Jerusalem in 1373, she remained in Rome until her death in 1373. Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 affirmed the acceptance of the overall authenticity of her mystical experiences (visions). She is remembered as one of the greatest Catholic mystics of church history.

Peter Waldo

Anti-Catholic Lay Preacher in Lyons (France), 1140-1218: Founder of Waldensian movement. Two events in 1160 changed his worldview. He was shocked to learn that rejection of Christ's body literally becoming via transubstantiation the elements of the Eucharist was made a capital crime by Catholicism. That shook his confidence in the Church. Later a close friend experienced sudden death. From this point onward he began living a radical Christian life giving his property over to his wife, while the remainder of his belongings he distributed as alms to the poor. He began to voluntarily live in poverty.

Justin Martyr

Apologist at Rome, 100-165: Father of theological literature. He was born in Palestine into a pagan family. As a youth learning philosophy, he met an old Christian, who asked him to consider the reliability of the Old Testament prophets compared to Greek philosophy. That led him to become a Christian, especially after seeing how Christians faced persecution.

Augustine of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury (England), 5??-604: Apostle to the English. A monk who became the first English archbishop in 601. Was sent by Pope Gregory in 597 to Kent to convert the pagan, Anglo-Saxon king Aethelberht (successful) and then continued to convert the people of Kent. Built a church in the king's capital city, Canterbury.

Gregory of Nazianzus

Archbishop of Constantinople, 329-389: The Trinitarian Theologian. Most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age. As a classically trained orator and philosopher he infused Hellenism into the early church. Made a significant impact on the shape of Trinitarian theology among both Greek and Latin theologians. First to teach Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, as different from Son's generation by the Father. Much of his theological work continues to influence modern theologians, especially in regard to the Trinity. Along with the brothers Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, he is known as one of the three Cappadocian Fathers.

Ufilas

Arian Bishop of the Goths (Central Europe), 310-383: Missionary of the Goths. Possibly half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia (Turkey). His Christian (?) parents had been enslaved by Goths, who were an early barbaric race that penetrated the Roman Empire and therefore was hated and feared. He may have been born into captivity or made captive when young. Raised as a Goth, he later became proficient in the Greek and Latin languages. He converted many among the Goths, preaching Arian Christianity, which, when they reached the Mediterranean, set them apart from their conquered Orthodox subjects.

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

Around 1275, he designed an unprecedented method of combining religious and philosophical attributes selected from a number of lists that became his Ars Magna (The Ultimate General Art). This work was intended as a debating tool for winning Muslims to the Christian faith through logic and reason. Through his detailed analytical efforts, he amazingly built an in-depth theological reference by which a reader could enter in an argument or question about the Christian faith. The reader would then turn to the appropriate index and page to find the correct answer.

Cosmas Indicopleustes

Around 550 he wrote the illustrated Christian Topography, a work partly based on his personal experiences as a merchant on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean in the early 6th century. That work contained some of the earliest and most famous world maps. His description of India and Sri Lanka is invaluable to historians. He seems to have personally visited the Kingdom of Axum in modern Ethiopia, as well as Eritrea, India, and Sri Lanka. There had been trade between the Roman Empire and India from the 1st century BC onwards, but his report is one of the few from individuals who had actually made the journey.

Leo I (the Great)

As Bishop of Rome, he obtained from Emperor Valentinian III the famous decree of 445, which recognized the primacy of the bishop of Rome based on the merits of Peter, the dignity of the city, and the legislation of the First Council of Nicaea. Valentinian III also ordered the forcible extradition by provincial governors of any bishop who refused to answer a summons to Rome. Hilary chose to submit to this Pappas of Rome. (Since the 3rd century, it was common to call all bishops in the Early Church pappas--Greek for father, translated pope in English by 10th century. By the 6th century pappas came to be used especially for the Bishop of Rome.)

Constantine Cyril

As a result of invitation from the Christian Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia in 862, he and his older brother Methodius were commissioned for their greatest work by Michael III to Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Their leadership resulted in the conversion of Moravia, southern Russia, and Balkans to Orthodox Christianity.

Gregory I (the Great)

As pope in the 6th century, he also acted as a civic ruler of Rome and many regions of Italy (civil government was in disarray). He had aqueducts repaired, hospices developed, etc. Promoted clerical celibacy. Believed that tradition was equal with Scripture. Claimed that a worship service was mainly a literal sacrifice anew of Christ, with mass referring to the body of Christ.

Boniface

As the missionary to Germany, he was given the protection of Christian Frankish King Charles Martel, the victor over the Moorish Muslim army at the Battle of Tours (France, 732). Felled the Oak of Thor tree at a Norse pagan shrine (Hesse, Germany). When the god Thor did not strike him down, the people were amazed and began to trust in power of Christ. Said to have built chapel and monastery dedicated to the Apostle Peter from the tree's wood on that site.

Benedict of Nursia

As the monastic rule of this abbot focused on the motto of prayer and work, daily life at Monte Cassino (and later thousands of monasteries throughout the world) consisted of three elements: liturgical prayer, manual labor and lectio divina. He wrote that idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore he directed that the monks should have specified periods of manual labor as well as for prayerful reading of Scripture. His rule stipulated specific times and manners for lectio divina.

Peter Abelard

At 22, he established his own school near Paris. From his success in dialectic, he next turned to theology and attended such lectures. Soon the pupil was able to give lectures, without previous training or special study, which were acknowledged as superior to those of the master. He was now at the height of his fame. He stepped into the chair at Notre-Dame, being also nominated canon, about the year 1115. Became major philosopher of scholasticism who put reason above faith in an attempt of reconciliation. Was seen surrounded by crowds - it is said thousands of students - drawn from all countries by the fame of his teaching.

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

At the age of 82 in 1314, he was under the false impression that the king of Tunis was interested in Christianity and traveled again to North Africa. But an angry crowd of Muslims stoned him in the city of Bougie. He was brought back to his home island, where he died the next year. Although many of his mystical ideas were condemned by later popes, chairs for the propagation of his theories were set up at the University of Barcelona and the University of Valencia. He is recognized as pioneer of computation theory, especially due to his great influence on Gottfried Leibniz. His systems of organizing concepts using devices, such as trees, ladders, and wheels, have been analyzed as early classification systems.

Bernard

At the preaching of this French abbot, the towns of Western Europe were empty of men gone to war. In Germany there were even attacks against the Jews because of claims they were not contributing financially to the rescue of the Holy Land. With great efforts, the archbishops and the Abbot of Clairvaux had to restrain such persecutions. The last years of his life were saddened in the failure of the Second Crusade by 1149, the responsibility for which was thrown upon him. He sent an apology to the pope, explaining how the sins of the Crusaders were the cause of their failures. He died in 1153 at age 63, after 40 years spent in the cloister.

Timothy I

Because he moved his office to Baghdad after his election as patriarch, he was familiar with the Islamic Abbasid Persian court and assisted in the translation of works by Aristotle and others. One of his most famous literary productions was the record of an inconclusive debate on the rival claims of Christianity and Islam, supposedly held in 782 with the third Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi (reigned 775-85). The debate was published first in Syriac and later in Arabic. It is noticeably respectful towards Islam and may well have been written for both Christian and Muslim readers.

Peter Chelcicky

Believed that Bohemian Christians must love God and one's neighbor as means to convert people rather than by compulsion. He maintained that any type of compulsion is evil, and that Christians should not participate in political power struggles. His most comprehensive work, written around 1443 and one of his last, was The Net of True Faith. In it he showed how the apostles treated all people as equals, and considered Christ as the only head. He was the first pacifist writer of the Renaissance, predating Erasmus and Menno Simons by nearly 100 years. Has been called the foremost thinker of the 15th-century Czech-Hussite Reformation movement. Some of his ideas were later adopted by the Moravians, Anabaptists, Quakers, and some Baptists.

Cyril of Alexandria

Bishop of Alexandria (Egypt) 376-444: Divider of Christianity. Defended the title God-bearer (Theotokos) for Mary, stressing that Mary was the mother of God. Convened the Council of Ephesus which condemned Nestorius in 431 for teaching Mary was the Christ-bearer (Christotokos). Perhaps also motivated by the competition between Constantinople and Alexandria.

Athanasius

Bishop of Alexandria (Egypt), 293-373: Father of Orthodoxy. Called the savior of Nicene Creed. He defended orthodox, trinitarian Christology during the Arian (Jesus has a created substance distinct from the Father) controversy. Of his 45 years as bishop, 17 were spent in 5 exiles imposed by Arian leaning emperors. While he did not live to see the end of the dispute, his views were recognized as orthodox Christian doctrine after his death at the Council of Constantinople in 381.

Ignatius

Bishop of Antioch of Syria (Turkey), 50-108: An Apostolic Father. Was born about 17 years after Christ's resurrection. Probably discipled by Apostle John.

Gregory the Illuminator

Bishop of Armenia, 257-337: Apostle to Armenia. Brought gospel to Armenian King Tiridates III, who imprisoned him, but was later released to pray for king's mental illness. Tiridates was eventually baptized, which initiated the Christianization of the Armenian people. Armenia was first nation to adopt Christianity as its official religion (301).

Basil the Great

Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia (Turkey), 329-379: Father of communal monasticism in Eastern Christianity. He was an influential theologian, who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of Arianism and Apollinarianism. Life greatly influenced by his older godly sister, Macrina. Known for his care of the poor. Did not care for solitary monasticism.

Cyprian

Bishop of Carthage (Tunisia), 200-258: Confirmed Church resides in the bishop. Stringent rigorous faith allowed him to become a bishop (though contested) in 249 within two/three years of conversion. In 250 Emperor Decian began his brutal persecutions for forcing Christians to sacrifice to pagan gods and eat the ritual pagan meal. The bishop hid during such persecutions. Afterwards he declined to issue blanket forgiveness to those who denied their faith. Different levels of penance were based on how much they endured before restoration.

Theodoret

Bishop of Cyrrhus (Turkey), 393-457: Shaper of Nestorianism. Stands out prominently in the Christological controversies aroused by Cyril of Alexandria against Nestorius. He shared in the petition to Nestorius to approve the term theotokos (mother of God), but to the condemnation of Nestorius he could not assent. After years of opposition, eventually he was declared orthodox and rehabilitated.

Augustine

Bishop of Hippo (Algeria) 354-430: Father of Roman Catholicism and Protestant Reformation. Most influential ancient Latin church father in the West. Some view him as one of the most ingenious writers in history. As result of praying mother Monica and preaching of Ambrose, he was converted in 387 from pleasure-driven life and Gnostic Manichaeism to Christianity after meditating on Romans 13:14. Became renowned preacher and vigorous defender of orthodox Christianity.

Irenaeus

Bishop of Lyons (France), 130-200: Early affirmer of orthodox faith. Probably he was from Smyrna (Turkey) and discipled by Polycarp. Became one of the earliest Church Fathers. Wrote about Apostle John's ministry in Asia Minor. Many Christians were massacred in Lyons while he served the churches there.

Ambrose

Bishop of Milan, 329-379: Great Latin Doctor of the Church. Was Governor of Aemilia-Liguria (defacto capital of Roman West) in northern Italy until asked to be ordained Bishop of Milan (374). Had to be baptized and trained in theology on fast track. Very popular political and Christian leader and well known in court of the Emperor Valentinian I.

Theodore of Mopsuestia

Bishop of Mopsuestia (Turkey) 350-428: Developed literal--grammatical-historical exegesis. Similar to Cyril, he rejected allegorical interpretation of Scripture. Frustrated with Alexandria School's allegory. Close friend of John Chrysostom, with whom he became a young monk under Basil of Caesarea.

Hilary

Bishop of Poitiers (France), 300-367: Athanasius of the West. Was a pagan, who converted in mid-life after studying the Scriptures. Became most prominent Latin theologian of his generation, greatly revered by Augustine. Favored an allegorical interpretation of Scripture.

Clement of Rome

Bishop of Rome, ??-96: First of the three great Apostolic Fathers (along with Ignatius and Polycarp). His father may have been a Roman senator. Possibly mentioned in Philippians 4:3. Consecrated by the Apostle Peter as an early and first notable elder/bishop in Rome.

Polycarp

Bishop of Smyrna (Turkey), 69-155: Apostolic Father. Was a disciple of John the Apostle, along with his older friend Ignatius (who was 19 years his senior). John may have ordained him as bishop of Smyrna. Was a link to the eye-witnesses of Jesus' teachings in the face of early heresies. One of three chief Apostolic Fathers. His sole surviving probable work is his "Letter to the Philippians", preserved by his disciple Irenaeus. For refusing to sacrifice to emperor, he was burned at the stake, then stabbed to death. At death, reported to claim, "How then can I blaspheme my King and Savior?"

Leo I (the Great)

Bishop/Pope of Rome, 390-461: Transformed Roman Bishopric into Papacy. This deacon from Tuscany became a Doctor of the Early Church. As a very influential regional Roman deacon, Emperor Valentinian III asked him to settle a major political dispute in Gaul. Upon his return to Rome in 440, he was elected bishop. Was quickly respected as a powerful bishop throughout the Roman Empire.

Gregory VII - Hildebrand

By 1080 the pope renewed the excommunication because of political changes in Germany. Again Henry had the pope declared deposed, nominated a new pope, and invaded Italy. Rome surrendered and the weakened pope took exile. He had already faced similar rejection of church authority in France and England. Henry then appointed his own pope, who confirmed the emperor's throne. A Norman army allied with the pope and restored him at Rome, which they harshly pillaged.

Peter Waldo

By 1170 he had gathered a large number of followers who were referred to as the Poor of Lyons. These Waldensians spread their teaching abroad while disguised as peddlers. They taught a strict adherence to the Bible. In 1179, Waldo was welcomed in Rome by Pope Alexander III. They had to explain their ideas of universal priesthood, the Gospel in the vulgar tongue, and the issue of self-imposed poverty. The papacy decided to condemn the lay preacher but not his movement yet.

Jerome

Catholic Bible Translator, 341-429: One of the four great Latin Church Fathers. Was a Catholic priest, theologian and historian. His major work was translating the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (became the authorized Catholic Bible--Latin Vulgate, 405). Vulgate in Latin refers to common. Compelled by the Church to include the Apocrypha, though he did not regard it as fully inspired. Recognized by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Church of England as a saint.

Thomas a Kempis

Catholic German Mystic Priest, 1380-1471: Author of The Imitation of Christ. Was born at the Lower Rhine town of Kempen (Germany). His father John was a blacksmith. Became one of the first popular German writers to influence Europe in late Medieval period. Challenged individuals to live a godly life rather than focus just on knowledge. He summarized the philosophy of the Brethren of the Common Life spiritual renewal movement. He became prolific copyist and writer at the Mount St. Agnes Monastery in Windesheim (Germany), founded by the Brethren of Common Life. Became a sub-prior of the monastery in 1429.

John Wycliffe

Catholic Theology Professor at Oxford University (England), 1324-1384: Morning Star of Reformation. While teaching at Oxford University, he organized the first translation of the Bible into Anglo-Saxon, and spread new, radical teachings.

Constantine

Changed the imperial favored religion to Christianity in 312. Issued the Edict of Milan which legalized Christianity in 313 and proclaimed tolerance of all religions throughout the empire. Called Council of Nicea to settle Church debate on divinity of Christ (325), which issued Nicene Creed (Christ is "very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father"). He also reunited east and west Roman regions and made new capital (later renamed Constantinople) at Byzantium in 330. Baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia (Arian) near time of death.

Vladimir

Christian Prince of Kiev, 958-1015: Ordered conversion of Kiev. A Russ prince who was grandson of the powerful Olga. Publicly converted to Christianity, after sending out regional teams to observe major religions of the time. Made all the citizens of Kiev convert to Christianity. Led the way to establish Kiev's regional power.

Mar Aba I

Church of the East Catholicos (Patriarch) of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (Iraq), ???-552: Uniter of Church of the East. Converted from Zoroastrianism, he studied in the School of Nisibis (Turkey) in the tradition of the ancient School of Antioch, following the literal-grammatical-historical interpretation of Scripture. Became the catholicos (patriarch) of the Church of the East (Middle East). Introduced them to the liturgy of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius (translated their works from Greek into Syriac).

Gregory VII - Hildebrand

Citizens of Rome were angry with this pope for all the events and he had to flee to Salerno, where he died within a year. Maintained his belief that the Church was founded by God for task of embracing all mankind under the Supreme Church, in a single society where divine will is the only law. Saw the papacy as vice-regent of God on earth.

Catherine

Claiming that she found no nourishment in earthly food, this mystic Dominican described her inability to eat as an illness (anorexia?). She died in Rome, in 1380, at the age of thirty-three. The people of Siena stole her head (they believed it was incorruptible) from her tomb for reburial in their town. Pope Paul VI gave her the title of Doctor of the Church in 1970 along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, making them the first women to receive this honor. She remains a greatly respected figure for her spiritual writings, of which over 300 letters survived. Her political boldness to powerfully speak truth was exceptional for a woman in her time period, especially to have had such influence in politics and on world history for centuries to come.

Samuel the Confessor

Coptic Orthodox Desert Monk (597-693): Tortured by Byzantine leaders over nature of Christ. Was born in AD 597 in the city of Daklube, Egypt, to a non-Chalcedonian Orthodox priest. He spent most of his early years as a disciple of Agathon at the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes, Egypt, where he was ordained a priest. He became known for his great asceticism and fasting.

John Wycliffe

Created English reform movement derisively called the Lollards (probably in reference to Dutch word "lollen", meaning to mumble, in reference to his non-academically trained teachers) . The Catholic Church dismissed him as heretical from the University of Oxford in 1381 for criticism of the Church, especially his doctrine on the Eucharist. Continued to send out tracts against the monks and Urban VI. The literary achievements of his last days, such as the Trialogus, stand at the peak of the knowledge of his day. While he was at mass in the parish church in 1384, he suffered a stroke, and soon died (1384).

Catherine

Dominican Sister in Siena, Italy, 1347-1380: First female Doctor of the Church. Born with a still-born twin sister in 1347 when the black death badly ravaged Siena. Her mother had already 22 children, but half of them had died due to the plague. She claimed she had a vision of Christ when she was six, saying that Jesus smiled at her and left her in ecstasy. At age seven she vowed chastity.

Thomas Aquinas

Dominican Theological Teacher (Rome/Paris), 1225-1274: Greatest theological doctor of Catholicism. Italian theologian and Doctor of the Church who is remembered for his attempt to reconcile faith and reason in a comprehensive theology. Very influential scholastic thinker. Wrote the very powerful Summa Theologiae, which defined and simplified all major aspects of Catholic theology.

Peter Waldo

Driven away from Lyons, this preacher's movement settled in Italy. He was excommunicated by the pope in 1184 and his doctrine labeled heretical. Undeterred, by 1185 his group produced a translation of the New Testament into his Franco-Provençal language from the Latin Vulgate. The sect persisted by fleeing to the Alps and hiding there.

Babai the Great

During his reign as Catholicos of the Church of the East, the Zoroastrian Sassanid Persian Empire conquered large Christian regions of the Byzantine Empire in the Middle East and began the isolation of Eastern churches there from Greek and Roman integration. The Persian Emperor Khosrau II had a Christian Armenian wife, Shirin, who switched from the Church of the East to the Syriac Orthodox Church (Monophysite). The emperor allowed the Christians to practice their faith but not evangelize, and prevented any election of a catholicos (out of favoritism to Monophysite Christians).

Antony of the Desert

Egyptian Monk, 251-356: First Wilderness Monk. Obeyed the message "sell all and give to the poor". Lived in harsh desert areas for 86 years, dwelling alone in solitary caves, tombs, and sheds. His worship and prayer were constantly distracted by hundreds of disciples seeking to learn his virtue and discipline, which caused him to keep moving farther into the desert. Became a gardener and weaver as means of livelihood. Emperor Constantine even wrote to him, asking for prayer. For centuries he was viewed as the prime example of devotion to Christ, although his ascetic lifestyle was not patterned after apostolic examples.

Constantine

Emperor of Rome, 272-337: United Church and Empire. As an army officer, he witnessed the most severe imperial persecution of Christians (Emperor Diocletian's) in various parts of the empire from 303-313, started by the oracle of Apollo. Many churches and Scriptures were destroyed, and thousands of Christians impoverished, imprisoned and martyred. After becoming emperor (306), he formally ended the persecutions in the West. Later he had to battle a usurper Roman emperor. Saw vision of the Cross ("In this sign--chi-rho--conquer"), then defeated his rival (312) with the Cross symbol on army's shields.

Peter Abelard

Enriched by the offerings of his pupils and entertained with universal admiration, this French teacher came, as he says, to think himself the only undefeated philosopher in the world. But a change in his fortunes was at hand. In his devotion to science, he had always lived a very regular life, enlivened only by philosophical debate: now, at the height of his fame, he encountered romance with Heloise. Since marriage would affect his profession, he chose a secret marriage, which caused her uncle to castrate the teacher. Heloise became a nun against her will. He became a monk at 40 and pursued his popular teaching yet against much opposition.

Basil the Great

Established guidelines for monasticism about community life, liturgical prayer, and manual labor. Added to monastic vows the creeds of the Church councils. Built large complex outside Caesarea, with a poorhouse, hospice, and hospital that became a regional Christian refuge of renown. Reached out to thieves and prostitutes. He along with Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa are collectively referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. Recognized as a Doctor of the Church in both Eastern Orthodoxy and in the Roman Catholic Church.

Anselm

Even though he denied the idea that Mary was not born with original sin (immaculate conception), the Church later claimed it by using his logic to declare that she should be so pure to bear God that no purer creature could be imagined. Such claim was also connected with his view that original sin meant humans are born naturally with a fallen nature that lacks a sense of original justice that Adam lost. That was an unprecedented departure from traditional Church teaching that original sin was connected with lusting for sexual intercourse. Declared a theological Doctor of the Church and one of the founders of Western Scholasticism, he has been a major influence in Western theology.

Sergius of Radonezh

Father Superior of Russian Orthodox Monasteries, 1314-1392: Abbot of Russia. Became a monk in a monastery in Moscow. Spent more than a year in the forest alone as a hermit. Soon, however, other monks started coming to him and building their own cells. After some time, they persuaded him to become their father superior, and he was ordained to the priesthood.

Ignatius

First Church Father to emphasize loyalty to single urban elder/bishop, assisted by other elders/presbyters and deacons. Earlier writings only refer to plurality of elders/presbyters/bishops. Taught that only bishop could approve church practice, baptisms, or communion. Called eucharist "medicine of immortality". May have argued for replacement of Sabbath with Sunday. Popularized use of the Greek word katholikos (catholic) for universal church.

Charlemagne

First Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, 747-814: Greatest of medieval kings. As King of the Franks (France), through war he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Forced the conversion of conquered kingdoms. Though illiterate, he started intellectual revival. Crowned Emperor in 800 by the pope. Brought back unified rule to Europe only during his life. Used the missi dominici (court envoys) to check up on imperial officials.

Tertullian

First writer to popularize use of word Trinity for Godhead. First to define Trinity as "three Persons, one Substance". Wrote his Trinitarian formula after becoming a Montanist (semi-heretical prophetic movement), yet still orthodox in his main teachings. Never canonized by Catholicism, as his later teachings contradicted apostolic teachings. Even his Trinity formulation was considered heresy by the Church during his lifetime, yet later was accepted at the Council of Nicea (325).

Sergius of Radonezh

Following this Russian Superior's example, all the monks had to live by their own labor. Over time, more monks and donations came to this place. His disciples started to spread his teaching across central and northern Russia. They settled intentionally in the most impracticable places and founded 40 monasteries. When Russian Metropolitan Alexius asked him to become his successor, Sergius declined, preferring to remain a simple monk. Was famous as a monk excelling in Russian Orthodox practice. Became the spiritual leader and monastic reformer of Medieval Russia. Together with Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints.

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

Franciscan Spanish Missionary to Jews and Muslims, 1232-1315: Revolutionary missionary. Was a missionary, thinker, and logician centuries before his time. Became a pioneer of computation theory and an expert in Roman Law. Was born into a wealthy family on Majorca, an island off Spain. The island had been recently conquered by Spain, and the remaining Muslims had been enslaved. He was well educated and became the tutor of King James II of Aragon, as he was fluent in Spanish, Latin, and Arabic.

Augustine

Greatest works were On Christian Doctrine, Confessions (autobiography), City of God (22 volumes, first political philosophy), On Trinity (one of greatest theological works in Christianity), and On Free Choice of the Will (addressing why God allows evil). Based his writings on the concept of the Nicene Trinity. He spent years, even decades, writing each of his books. The Christian public consumed his every word. Once his impatient disciples even stole a draft of On Trinity for publishing (he took so many years to write it) to defend against rampant heresy.

Boniface

Had a great burden for the resistant Frisian Germanic tribes. In 754 he led a large missionary team back into Frisia, who baptized many. He summoned the new believers to a confirmation meeting (Dokkum, Netherlands), but instead an armed pagan force appeared and attacked the mission. The archbishop asked his companions to lay down their arms in submission to Christ. The pagans then martyred the archbishop and his team of 52 missionaries. In search of treasure, they were shocked to find only Scripture and Christian literature, which they destroyed. The archbishop is remembered as a national hero in Germany.

John Cassian

Had an immeasurable effect on spirituality in Western Europe. Many different western spiritualities, from that of Benedict to Ignatius of Loyola, owe their ideas to him. Monasteries he inspired kept learning and culture alive during the Early Medieval Age. They were often the only institutions that cared for the sick and poor. Since Benedict's Rule is still followed by Benedictine, Cistercian, and Trappist monks, his thought still exercises influence over thousands of Catholic monks today.

Alopen

Having come to China via the Silk Road, his Nestorian mission benefited from Emperor Taizong's policy of religious tolerance, which reversed measures his father Gaozu had taken against Buddhism and other foreign religions and influences. Taizong welcomed him and arranged for the translation of the holy writings he had brought at the Imperial Library. Upon studying them, apparently Taizong, a great scholar and patron, found them most acceptable and arranged for their dissemination. Four documents (the Jesus Sutras) from this early period of Christianity in China date to around this missionary's time. Three years later in 638 Taizong issued an official declaration protecting the Nestorian Church.

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

He also invented numerous 'machines' for evangelism. One was a multi-disc tool to use logical means to indicate true knowledge. The goal was to show that Christian doctrines could be obtained artificially from a fixed set of preliminary ideas. For example, one of the tables listed the attributes of God, such as his goodness and greatness, knowing that all Jews, Muslims, and Christians would agree, giving him a firm platform from which to argue. Bruno in the 16th century and Leibniz in the 17th century used the same concept for investigations into the philosophy of science. Some computer scientists have adopted him as a sort of founding father, claiming that his system of logic was the beginning of information technology.

Constantine Cyril

He and his brother Methodius translated the New Testament into Slavonic. Later they wrote the first Slavic civil code. On the trip to Rome, they gave the pope the relics of Bishop Clement of Rome, who had been martyred in the Crimea under Roman jurisdiction in 96.

Justin Martyr

He claimed that the Gospels (sometimes he called them memoirs of the apostles) were read every Sunday in the churches at Rome, along with the writings of the OT prophets. His writings frequently quote or refer to passages from the Gospels, especially Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Distinct references are found to Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians, and possible to Philippians, Titus, and 1 Timothy. He clearly refers to the book of Revelation, naming the Apostle John as author. He frequently uses OT prophecies to prove the messiahship of Jesus, such as being born of a virgin in Bethlehem, and entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, his prophesy of destruction of Jerusalem, and Gentiles accepting Christianity. He connected Christ's Second Coming with the climax of the prophecy of Daniel 7.

Justin Martyr

He claimed that the resurrection of the body is neither impossible nor unworthy of God, and that the evidence of prophecy is not lacking for it. He publicly attacked current heresies against the historic gospel of the apostles. He thought that Greek philosophers had derived elements of truth from the Old Testament, so he emphasized the significance of Christ in all truth. He taught that the relevance of OT concepts of circumcision, animal sacrifices, the Sabbath, and dietary laws ceased when Christ appeared.

Cyprian

He defended the faith against heretical Novationists. Taught there is no salvation outside the Church, that the church unity was in the bishop, who was the Church. He encouraged believers in Carthage to care for pagans dying from a major plague. Executed during Emperor Valerian's persecution.

Alopen

He erected China's first Christian church in the 7th century and appointed twenty-one priests, likely all Persians, to administer it. Under Taizong's son and successor Gaozong, who continued this policy of toleration, Alopen's status expanded even further, and he was appointed bishop over the many churches built by the emperor. After his time, the Church of the East was prominent in China for the remainder of the Tang Dynasty's power. Various emperors treated it differently, with some showing it the tolerance of early decades, and some openly persecuting it.

Francis

He eventually had to divide his growing order into provinces and groups were sent to France, Germany, Hungary, Spain and to the East. In 1223 he modified his order with a Second Rule, calling on the friars "to observe the Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, living in obedience without anything of our own and in chastity." Also at Christmas 1223, he arranged for the first manger scene (with live animals) to enhance the worship of Christ.

Benedict of Nursia

He exercised a fundamental influence on the development of European civilization and culture and helped Europe to emerge from the "dark night of history" that followed the fall of the Roman Empire. Contributed more than anyone else to the rise of monasticism in the West. Today his Rule is the most common and influential Rule used by monasteries and monks, more than 1,400 years after its writing. Even in 2005 Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the importance of lectio divina for Catholics.

Columba

He exiled himself from Ireland, to return only once, many years later. In his adopted mission land of Scotland, he was granted land on the island of Iona, off the west coast, which became the center of his evangelizing mission to the Picts. Aside from Christian services, he provided the only center of literacy in the region. His reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes and a friend of the local pagan king. (Legend says he banished the Loch Ness Monster to the depths of the River Ness as a witness to the power of Christ).

Columba

He founded several churches in the Scottish Hebrides and turned his monastery at Iona into a school for missionaries. Was a leading figure in the revitalization of monasticism in the 6th century. Is said to have written 300 books. He died on Iona and was buried in 597 by his monks in that abbey. Several Scottish clans are thought to be descendants from his Irish missionary team. Today he is a national hero to Ireland and Scotland.

Anselm

He had to fight for the loyalty of his English bishops, who often sided with the king, even though the nobles preferred the archbishop's reforms. Twice this archbishop chose exile to France out of papal loyalty. On a trip to Rome Pope Urban II honored the archbishop but remained neutral in his battle with William in order to gain political favor. Urban had just launched the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks in 1095.

Justin Martyr

He identified Christ with the rational force operative in the universe, in that all truth and virtue center in the adoration of Christ, and is the only reasonable worldview. To him, Logos (Christ) is distinct from the Father, though born of the very substance of the Father, and that through the Logos, God has made everything. He also defended the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinity. Some of his teachings had to be corrected by later Church Doctors, but essentially he was recognized as orthodox. His writings unfortunately contain some of the earliest Christian expressions that in the Lord's Supper the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus.

Leo I (the Great)

He is most remembered theologically for issuing his Tome (long letter) on monothelitism (how the divine and human natures relate in the person of Jesus). That document was foundational to the Christological debates of the Council of Chalcedon (Turkey). Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council in 451, dealt primarily with the orthodox definition of Christ's being as the hypostatic (substantive) union of two natures—divine and human—united in one person, "with neither confusion nor division". After Leo's Tome was read out, the bishops in the council affirmed, "This is the faith of the apostles.... Peter has spoken thus through [the Bishop of Rome]." Other bishops recognized the Bishop of Rome as the interpreter of the voice of Peter and as the head of their body, requesting his confirmation of their decrees. The Council of Chalcedon was followed by a major schism associated with Monophysitism, Miaphysitism and Dyophysitism (orthodox position).

Jacobus Baradaeus

He renewed the Miaphysite movement (Christ is one person whose divinity and humanity are united in single nature [physis]) had been a reaction to extreme Nestorianism, and is a moderate position of Monophystism (Christ had one divine nature). After Chalcedon, the Miaphysites began to decline. Then in 543, the Bishop of Edessa became one of the most important figures in the histories of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church as a defender of Miaphysitism. His instrumental efforts in reorganizing and revitalizing the community gave it an alternate name, the Jacobites. This zealous bishop rescued the Miaphysite community in Asia Minor and the East from extinction under Byzantine imperial persecution. He united its scattered elements under the Syraic Orthodox Church, enduring through modern times.

Bernard

He sent many from his overcrowded Clairvaux monastery into Germany, Sweden, England, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy. He founded 163 monasteries across Europe. Pope Eugenius III asked his former abbot to send him instructions on how to reign as a truly spiritual Vicar of Peter, because the predominating idea was that the reformation of the Church ought to commence with the sanctity of the pope. In a few years, his spiritual reforms were in use in many monasteries throughout Europe. Loyalty to this abbot extended to European bishops, clergy, and lay people, even though there was jealously and opposition surfaced in many areas.

Gregory VII - Hildebrand

He tried to establish papal civil sovereignty over Spain, Denmark, Hungary, and Croatia. This pope did establish relations with every country in Christendom, though these relations did not invariably realize the ecclesiastic-political hopes connected with them. Concerned with the schism between Rome and the Byzantines, he worked hard to restore the relationship. Reached out to Emperor Michael VII.

Origen

He viewed Scripture as a sacrament, a means of direct grace between Christ and the individual believer. He wrote that we should read Scripture to seek the meaning of divine words which is hidden from most people. He believed that the Word (i.e. Logos) was incarnate in Scripture and could therefore touch and teach readers and hearers. He taught that the reading of Scripture should help move beyond elementary thoughts and discover the higher wisdom hidden in the Word of God.

Bernard

He was instrumental in re-emphasizing the importance of lectio divina and contemplation on Scripture within the Cistercian order. He considered lectio divina and contemplation guided by the Holy Spirit the keys to nourishing Christian spirituality. His theology and Mariology continue to be of major importance today, particularly within the Cistercian and Trappist orders. He is also the attributed author of the poems often translated in English hymnals as "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" and "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee".

Theodore of Mopsuestia

He was often invited to teach Scripture and considered fully orthodox in all the churches of the East. His last years were complicated by three controversies. One, in one sermon at Antioch, he denied Mary the title of Theotokos (God-bearer). The people threatened to stone him and later he was asked to retract, which he did. Two, he befriended Pelagian leaders (exiled from the West), which resulted in a local synod's ineffectual anathematizing (excommunicating) him. Three, in the last year of his life, he was visited by Nestorius (founder of Nestorian Church of the East). The bishop soon died (431), at peace with the Church with great reputation among bishops of the East. But then Western and a few Eastern leaders began to blame (possibly unfairly) him and Diodore for the rise of Pelagian and Nestorian beliefs.

Catherine

Her early pious activities in Siena, Italy attracted a group of followers, both women and men. They began traveling throughout northern and central Italy, advocating reform of the clergy and the launch of a new Crusade against the Muslims. In the 1370s while living in Rome, she began a ministry of writing letters to Pope Gregory XI and kings, begging for wars to cease, spiritual reforms, and the return of the papacy to Rome, which he agreed to pursue but was unable to complete before his death. Then she started a campaign to confirm Urban VI as the legitimate pope.

Bridget

Her mystic visions of purgatory were well known. Once she prayed for a long time to know how many blows Christ suffered during His terrible passion. Rewarding her patience, some claimed that Christ then appeared to her and said, "I received 5480 blows upon my body. If you wish to honor them in some way, recite fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys with the following prayers, which I Myself shall teach you, for an entire year. When the year is finished, you will have honored each of my wounds." While the Church accepted such visions, some began to doubt the authorship of the new prayers. Whatever their origin, such prayers were widely circulated in the late Medieval Age and became regular features in devotional literature.

Helena

Her work converted Palestine into the Holy Land. Helena's search for Christian relics helped lead Church into relic/icon idolatry. Byzantine Emperor Leo III sought to remove such images from Christian worship (754), but leaders of both East and West Church protested the emperor's iconoclastic (icon breaking) edicts. The issue for both Orthodox and Roman churches was settled at the Second Council of Nicaea (787), which sadly affirmed the veneration of relics/icons.

Polycarp

His Letter to the Philippians affirmed the authentic gospel of Christ as passed down from the apostles' Scripture within one generation. He wrote, "And because of the secure root of our faith...bears fruit to our Lord Jesus Christ, who endured because of our sins to reach even death, whom God raised up.... In whom, not having seen, you believe with joy inexpressible and glorious, ...knowing that by grace you have been saved, not by works, but the will of God through Jesus Christ. ...Serve God in reverence and truth..., believing in the one who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave him glory and a throne at his right hand, to whom all things in heaven and earth are subject, whom every breathing thing worships, who is coming as judge of the living and dead, whose blood God will require from those who disobey him. But the one who raised him from the dead also will raise us if we do his will and follow in his commandments and love the things he loved...."

Irenaeus

His best-known book "Against Heresies" (180) is a detailed attack on Gnosticism (which claimed a secret oral tradition from Jesus himself). He emphasized the traditional elements in the faith, especially Scripture, episcopate, and tradition to combat heresy. He wrote of the importance of unity of faith in written Scripture, affirmed by unified voice of the catholic (or general) Church, expressed in apostolic succession of bishops and elders, even though they were dispersed in many regions. He claimed that the bishops provided the only safe guide to the interpretation of Scripture.

Peter Abelard

His chief enemy was Bernard, the faithful reformer who hated the teacher's rationale as rebellion against God's wisdom. He infuriated Bernard and other traditional teachers because he accepted paradoxes brought by theology and philosophy and did not sense an obligation to answer all questions with traditional, and sometimes illogical, answers. Such freedom was expressed in his theological book "Yes and No". In 1141 Bernard obtained a charge of heresy against the teacher by a local synod and at Rome. On his way to Rome to clear his name, he grew sick. His last words were said to be "I don't know" before dying (1142).

Clement of Rome

His church in Rome was an important center of Christianity since apostolic times. A congregation existed in Rome before Paul wrote his Epistle to Romans (57). Paul arrived in Rome (61) as an imperial prisoner, and his prison epistles were written after that from Rome. Several other NT books were written there. Paul and Peter were martyred in Rome.

Francis

His deep sense of brotherhood under God embraced others, declaring, "He considered himself no friend of Christ if he did not cherish those for whom Christ died." He was said to preach to man and wildlife the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God's creation. He believed that nature itself was the mirror of God. He called all creatures his "brothers" and "sisters" and was said to have preached the gospel to wildlife.

Anselm

His famous Atonement Satisfaction theology is found in his book Why the God-Man?. Here he answered the question "Why did Christ die?" with to satisfy the chief demand of the nature of God, that Christ's death was an alternative of satisfaction and equally fulfilling the requirements of God's justice. He taught Christ satisfied God's law and justice against sin, by dying as sinless substitute in our place, for our rebellion against God. God's offended honor and dignity could only be satisfied by the sacrifice of the God-man, Jesus Christ, bringing a just forgiveness to mankind. His theory was a precursor to satisfaction refinements by Thomas Aquinas and 400 years later by the Reformer John Calvin, who added the idea of punishment to meet the demands of divine justice.

Cosmas Indicopleustes

His foreign travel reports of the 6th century gave credence to the ancient claim that the Apostle Thomas established Christianity in India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) in the 1st century. As the community grew and immigration by East Syrians increased, the connection with the Church of the East, centered in the Persian capital of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, strengthened. From the early 4th century the patriarch of the Church of the East provided India with clergy, holy texts, and ecclesiastical infrastructure. Around 650 Patriarch Ishoyahb III solidified the Church of the East's jurisdiction over the Saint Thomas Christian community.

Ignatius

His letters preserved ancient examples of ecclesiology, sacraments, and the role of elders/bishops. He highly valued martyrdom and begged believers not to prevent his death. His writings affirmed hierarchical form of urban church government in Early Church. He freely quoted and paraphrased from the writings of Paul, Peter, and John, viewing them as equally inspired. Thus one of his greatest contributions to our faith today is that his writings affirmed a very early acceptance of apostolic writings as holy Scripture.

Thomas a Kempis

His life was a quiet one, with time being spent between devotional exercises, composition, and copying. He copied the Bible no fewer than four times. Died in 1471 at a place 75 miles north of his birthplace. His book "The Imitation of Christ" is one of the best known Christian books on personal devotion to Christ in the world even today. One of his famous lines from "The Imitation of Christ" is "At the Day of Judgment we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done."

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

His mission to convert the Jews of Europe was zealous, with his goal to utterly relieve Christendom of any Jews or Jewish religious influence. Some regard his writings as the first to promote the expulsion from Western Europe of Jews who refused conversion. He traveled through Europe to convince the pope and kings to establish special colleges to prepare future missionaries to convert the infidels of Tunis to Christianity. To acquire converts, he worked for amicable public debate to foster an intellectual appreciation of a rational Christianity among the Jews.

Peter Chelcicky

His positions on Bohemian government are similar to the Christian anarchist principles of the Russian Leo Tolstoy (wrote "War and Peace"). Tolstoy praised this man's work in his 1894 book "The Kingdom of God is Within You". Five years after Jan Has' execution, he began teaching in 1420 that violence should not be used in religious matters, that both sinners and saints should be allowed to live together until the harvest. It is wrong even to kill the sinful. Christians should refuse military service, no physical power can destroy evil, and Christians should accept persecution without retaliating. He believed war was the worst evil, and thought soldiers were no more than murderers. He even opposed defensive war. He believed the example of Jesus and the Gospel was an example of peace.

Timothy I

His reforms as Patriarch of the Church of the East laid the foundations for the later success of Nestorian missions in central Asia. On the death of the patriarch Hnanishoʿ II in 778, he may have used bribery and deceit to be appointed patriarch. These tactics were not forgotten by his opponents, and a few rounds of excommunications led to rioting in the streets of Baghdad by the city's Christians. One of his opposing bishops even deserted the faith and became a Muslim. The opposition was finally stilled and his position was confirmed.

Mar Aba I

His reign and trials brought consolidation and bonding of the Assyrian Church, and a rise of Persian influence. He is a highly regarded saint in the modern Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The Chaldean seminary in San Diego, CA, USA is named after him.

Anselm

His writings represent a recognition of the relationship of reason to revealed truth, and an attempt to elaborate a rational system of faith. Similar to Augustine's axioms, he wrote, "Nor do I seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe that I may understand." He held that faith precedes reason, but that reason can expand upon faith. His famous theory of knowledge affirms the existence of an absolute truth in which all other truth participates. His absolute truth is God. So he sought to make God clear to reason and be demonstrated to have real existence.

Athanasius

His writings were well regarded by all Church fathers who followed, in both the West and the East. His writings show a rich devotion to the Word-become-man concept. Had great pastoral concern and profound interest in monasticism. Was the first of eight Great Doctors of the Ancient Church. These excelled in their defense of the truths of Christianity. Four were of the Greek Eastern Church (Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom). Four were of the Latin Western Church (Ambrose, Augustine, Pope Gregory the Great, and Jerome).

Venerable Bede

Historian of English Church and People, 672-735: Father of English history. Considered the greatest Latin scholar of the time. Wrote A History of the English Church and People, an account of England from the Roman invasion to his own time. In 1899, he was made a Doctor of the Church by Leo XIII. He is the only native of Great Britain to achieve this designation (Anselm of Canterbury, also a Doctor of the Church, was originally from Italy).

Dominic de Guzman

Honoring the practice originating with this leader, 20th century Pope Pius XI stated the Rosary of Mary was the principle and foundation on which this Spanish priest's order rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others. Such emphasis on the path through Mary to Christ has since been a key direction in Roman Catholic Mariology, being viewed as inherent in Christology, and the rosary paving that path. This Spanish priest did not claim that the use of the rosary was based on Scripture but came from Mary's appearance to him in 1214. A major point of the Reformation was a rejection of Mary's role as a mediator between Christians and Christ and the use of the rosary.

Francis

In 1209, he heard a life-changing sermon about Matthew 10:9, wherein Christ commanded his disciples to spread out with no possessions, and proclaim the Kingdom of God (though later Christ commanded them to take provisions). At that point, he devoted himself to a life of proclaiming the Kingdom of God in extreme poverty. Clad in a rough garment and barefoot, he began to preach repentance. Within a year he had eleven followers. The community lived as lesser brothers (fratres minores or friars minor). The brothers lived a simple life in a deserted house near Assisi, spending much of their time wandering through the mountains, singing God's praise cheerfully. They made a deep impression upon their hearers by their earnest exhortations. His rule for the group: "To follow the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and to walk in his footsteps."

Francis

In 1209, he led his first eleven followers to Rome to seek permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious Order. After several days, Pope Innocent III agreed to admit the group informally and allowed them to be tonsured (to shave the top of their head), to indicate they were endorsed by the Church. Soon the pope gave official endorsement to the mendicant (dependent on charity) Order of Friars Minor in 1210. From then on, his new order grew quickly with new vocations. In 1211 along with Clare of Assisi, he formed the Order of Poor Ladies. He also founded the Third Order for laymen (Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance).

Dominic de Guzman

In 1215 he established a new monastery with 6 followers in a donated house in Toulouse, Spain. He subjected himself and his companions to the monastic rules of prayer, penance, and preaching. Went to Rome in 1216 and received Pope Innocent III's permission for the "Order of Preachers". Made his headquarters at Rome. In his frequent travels to his growing network of monasteries in Europe, he abstained from meat, observed stated fasts and periods of silence, selected the worst accommodations and rag clothes. He slept on floors. Died at the age of fifty-one, exhausted from his work and lifestyle. His last few days were spent laying on sacks teaching his monks to have charity, guard their humility, and make their treasure out of poverty.

Francis

In 1219, he traveled to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade. Arriving at the battle site, he crossed over to the Islamic camp to present the Gospel of Christ to al-Kamil, Sultan of Egypt. The sultan listened to his presentations and sent him safely back to the Crusader army. A century later, the Muslims allowed only the Order of Friars Minor to oversee the protection of Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem.

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

In 1265 this Spanish writer had an epiphany of Christ. At this time, he was known for composing immoral romance literature. One night he was about to compose a love song but saw the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross in mid-air five times in a row. He then became a Christian and took the path of a layman within the Order of St. Francis. Soon he left his position and family to live a life of solitude and study for the next nine years. During this time he began to write about epistemology, botany, alchemy, astrology, and perhaps the first European novel. He pressed for the study of Arabic and other languages in Spain for the purpose of converting Muslims to Christianity. Learned Arabic from a Muslim slave he purchased, even writing some books in Arabic.

Ramon Llull (Raymond Lull)

In 1285, he hoped to embrace a martyr's death and embarked on his first mission to North Africa but was expelled from Tunis (Tunisia). He traveled to Tunis three times in the early 14th century, and wrote numerous letters to the king of Tunis. He reported that the conversion of Muslims should be achieved through prayer, not through military force. He finally achieved his goal of linguistic education at major universities in 1311 when the Council of Vienne ordered the creation of chairs of Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic at the Universities of Bologna, Oxford, Paris, Salamanca, and the Papal Court.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

In 1409 the new Pope Alexander V (the schismatic anti-pope) issued a papal bull against Wycliffism in this prearcher's city of Prague. The preacher appealed to Alexander in vain. Wycliffe's books and valuable manuscripts were burned, and this preacher and his adherents were excommunicated by Alexander. By this time, the preacher became the first major reformer in Europe to actually lead a broad-based national movement to practice the ideas of Wycliffe by directly using the New Testament as a guide for Christian faith and living instead of Church laws.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

In 1412, using Wycliffe's writings, this preacher asserted that no pope or bishop had the right to take up the sword in the name of the Church; he should pray for his enemies and bless those that curse him; man obtains forgiveness of sins by true repentance, not money. A few days afterward, some of the preacher's followers burned the papal bulls. Their preacher, they said, should be obeyed rather than the corrupt Church. In response, three men from the lower classes who openly called the indulgences a fraud were beheaded, the first martyrs of the reformer's church.

Isabella

In 1494, by the Treaty of Tordesillas, she agreed to divide the Earth, outside of Europe, into two regions of influence with King John II of Portugal. She attempted to restrict any enslavement of New World natives. After a Muslim uprising in 1499, and further troubles thereafter, the Treaty of Granada was broken in 1502, and Muslims were ordered to either become Christians or to leave.

Nestorius

In 1994 the Roman Catholic and Assyrian churches (followers of this teacher) have signed agreements, embracing the orthodox view of Christ as follows. "His divinity and his humanity are united in one person, without confusion or change... Christ therefore is not an 'ordinary man' whom God adopted in order to reside in him and inspire him... The humanity to which the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth always was that of the Son of God himself." (Theodore and and this teacher probably would have signed the statement as well 1500 years ago.)

Leo I (the Great)

In 445, this pope disputed with the powerful Patriarch of Alexandria, insisting he should always side with the Roman pope on the basis that Mark the Evangelist, the disciple of Saint Peter and founder of the Alexandrian Church, could have had no other tradition than that of the prince of the apostles. Yet the Egyptian Coptic Church saw the ancient patriarchates as equals. In a letter to the Bishop of Thessalonica (Greece) in 446, the pope rebuked him on a matter, saying, "The care of the universal Church should converge towards Peter's one seat, and nothing anywhere should be separated from its Head."

Cosmas Indicopleustes

In 522, this Egyptian tentmaker-missionary visited the Malabar Coast (South India). For centuries Indian Christian churches have claimed that the Apostle Thomas brought the gospel to India. Thomas' trip would certainly have been possible for a Roman Jew to have made. Communities such as the Cochin Jews and the Bene Israel are known to have existed in India around the 1st century. The earliest text connecting Thomas to India is the Acts of Thomas, written in Edessa perhaps in the 2nd century. Eusebius of Caesarea mentions that his mentor Pantaenus found a Christian community in India in the 2nd century, while references to Thomas' Indian mission appear in the works of 3rd and 4th century writers of the Roman Empire, including Ambrose of Milan, Gregory of Nazianzus, Jerome, and Ephrem the Syrian.

Catherine

In about 1366, this Italian Dominican nun experienced what she described as a "mystical marriage" with Jesus, which became a very popular subject in Renaissance art. Later she wrote that she encountered the stigmata (the wounds of Christ) and received communion from Christ himself. She dedicated much of her life to helping the ill and the poor.

Mar Aba I

In his area of Middle East catholicos, Christians in the region were threatened during the Persian-Roman wars. Persecution of Christians in Persian areas also became more common. Zoroastrians (hostile to the catholicos as an apostate from their faith) pressured the Persian Sassanid Emperor Khosrau to act against this Church of the East leader. They forced the emperor to punish him for proselytizing among Zoroastrians. He was placed under house arrest, and later exiled to Azerbaijan. He was allowed to return after seven years and continued as catholicos until his death in 552, possibly as result of torture during his imprisonment.

Augustine

In his sermon on John 7:14-18, he wrote, "Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that you may understand." When the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate with the barbaric invasions (of Arian Christians), he developed the concept of Christianity as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material Earthly City (Roman Empire). His writings profoundly influenced the Medieval worldview.

Ignatius

In route to martyrdom under Emperor Trajan at Roman Coliseum, he wrote seven letters to churches in modern Turkey and Rome. In his Letter to the Ephesians, he clearly taught the deity of Christ: "There is one Physician who is possessed both of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing in flesh; true life in death; both of Mary and of God; ...even Jesus Christ our Lord."

Dominic de Guzman

In the 15th century one of his followers, the Dominican theologian Alanus de Rupe, established the 15 rosary promises for its faithful use, which range from protection from misfortune to meriting a high degree of glory in heaven. In 1569 the Dominican Pope Pius V officially established the devotion to the rosary in the Catholic Church. Leo XIII in the 18th century explained the importance of the rosary as the one road to God, from the Father to the Son, to his Mother, and from her to the human race. He said that no human creature can change this and therefore there exists only one road for the faithful, to the Mother and from her to Christ and through Christ to the Father, and that the rosary was a vital means to participate in the life of Mary and to find the way to Christ.

Bernard

In the year 1128, he established The Rule of the Knights Templar, which soon became the ideal of Christian nobility throughout the Medieval Age. In 1130 Bernard had such influence in Europe that he was pressed to travel between countries, convincing kings to put an end to the papal schism and affirm the rival Pope Innocent II. In 1134 for his loyalty to restore the papal schism, he was offered but refused the archbishopric of Milan and returned to Clairvaux.

Origen

In those areas for which there was no specific apostolic teaching, he said that Christians were free to speculate through prayer and study. Made popular the allegorical (non-literal) method of interpreting Scripture. The roots of Christian mysticism via scriptural reflection and interpretation go back to this teacher, after whom Ambrose taught them to Augustine.

Gregory VII - Hildebrand

Instructed believers to disdain married bishops and priests. Later he required all priests to add to the Mass a pronouncement of the literal presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He also confirmed that only the pope could appoint, move, or depose bishops, which led to the investiture controversy, because kings were used to appointing bishops. The results were the affirmation of the primacy of papal authority over civil and the new canon law governing the election of the pope by the College of Cardinals.

Dominic de Guzman

It's not certain what role this Spanish monastic leader played in the Catholic Inquisition of heretics and reformers. Some of his first followers did become inquisitors. Later his order conducted preaching circuits that became a formidable opponent to the Reformation leaders.

Anselm

Italian Archbishop of Canterbury (England), 1033-1109: Doctor of the Catholic Church. Born a Lombard in Italy, his nobleman Lombard father refused to let him at 15 become a monk, which caused him to become sick. When he was 23, he left home, crossed the Alps, and wandered through France. In Normandy (1060), he became a Benedictine monk and later an abbot of the Bec Monastery. Under him, Bec became the foremost seat of learning in Europe. There his fame spread for his sincere affection for the spiritual welfare of his fellow monks.

Francis

Italian Friar-Preacher, 1182-1226: Founder of Order of Friars Minor (also known by his name). Devoted his life to serving the poor and sick. Was son of a successful cloth merchant in Assisi, Italy, where as a youth he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man. He loved bright clothing and the pursuit of worldly pleasure. He also often fought as a mercenary soldier, spending a year as a POW. While going off to war at age 22 in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life.

Isabella

Just three months after conquering Granada, she agreed to sponsor Christopher Columbus on an expedition to reach Asia's East Indies by sailing west. On August 3, 1492, his expedition departed Spain and arrived at San Salvador (Bahamas) on October 12. He named it San Salvador, after Jesus the Savior. He returned the next year and presented his findings to the monarchs, bringing natives and gold under a hero's welcome. Spain then entered a Golden Age of exploration and colonization, the period of the Spanish Empire under their queen and king.

Leo I (the Great)

Later this Roman bishop ensured the importance of Petrine Primacy when the secular ruler did little to stop the coming invasion of Attila the Hun. After meeting with the bishop, the Huns left Italy (452). However the Vandals did sack Rome in 455, despite the bishop's protests (although the Arian Christian invaders did agree with him to suppress murder and arson). Many Eastern Church patriarchs called him the first among equals.

Polycarp

Maintained fellowship with the Roman Bishop Anicetus in spite of difference on Easter celebration date. Polycarp's regional churches celebrated Easter on Jewish Passover (attributed to Apostle John) and the Roman church on a Sunday after March Equinox (attributed to Apostle Peter).

Frumentius

Missionary to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), 300-383: Apostle to Ethiopia. Syrian Christian youth from Tyre (Lebanon). On a trip to Ethiopia, he was one of two brothers who were survivors of a ship crew-massacre on the Red Sea and became enslaved. Later he was appointed tutor to an Ethiopian prince. Eventually the prince became Abyssinian King Ezana, whom this young man led to Christ and through whom he introduced Christianity to Ethiopia.

Ansgar

Missionary to Scandinavia, 801-865: Apostle of the North. He was Archbishop of Bremen (Germany). Early evangelization in Scandinavia was begun by him, a native of Amiens (France). He was sent with a group of monks to Jutland (Denmark) in 820 at the time of the pro-Christian Jutish king Harald Klak. The mission was only partially successful, and he returned two years later to Germany, after Harald had been driven out of his kingdom. In 829 he went to Birka on Lake Mälaren, Sweden, with his aide friar Witmar, and a small congregation was formed in 831 which included the king's own steward Hergeir. Conversion was slow, however, and most Scandinavian lands were only completely Christianized at the time of rulers such as Saint Canute IV of Denmark and Olaf I of Norway in the years following 1000.

Methodius

Missionary to Slavs (Eastern Europe) 815-885: Apostle to Slavs. Along with his brother Cyril, he was missionary sent by Byzantine government to eastern Europe and the Balkans. They converted southern Russia and the Balkans to Orthodox Christianity. Responsible for creation of written alphabet for Slavic known as Cyrillic. They spoke the Slavonic language and used it instead of the traditional Greek to celebrate mass. This use of the native language helped convert many Moravians to Christianity.

Constantine Cyril

Missionary to Slavs (Eastern Europe) 827-869: Apostle to Slavs. Through his fluency in Arabic and Hebrew, he was sent by Byzantine Emperor Michael III to present Christ to Muslim theologians with the Caliphate's permission at their capital in Samarra (Iraq). Later he was sent to the Khazar Khaganate (Russia) to preach Christ within that kingdom, which later embraced Judaism.

Columba

Missionary to the Picts (Scotland), 521-597: Founder of Scottish Gallic Church. Born in northern Ireland to noble family. The Irish pagan druidic tradition had collapsed due to the spread of the new Christian faith. The study of Latin learning and Christian theology in monasteries flourished. During the sixth century, some of the most significant names in the history of Irish Christianity studied at the Clonard monastery (average number of scholars under instruction at Clonard was said to be 3,000).

Boniface

Missionary-Monk to Germanic Tribes, 672-754: Apostle to the Germans. English monk who evangelized the European continent, especially Germany. Born Winfrid in England. Became a Benedictine monk in his youth and ordained a priest at 30. As a Latin scholar, he was asked to become abbot of his prestigious monastery but instead chose at the age of 44 to leave England (716) for mission work in Frisia (Germany). First year was a failure due to Frankish wars and he returned to England. The next year he visited Pope Gregory II in Rome, who renamed him Boniface, for the Roman fourth-century martyr at Tarsus (Turkey), and appointed him missionary bishop over Saxon and other Frankish tribes in Germania, which had no churches.

Patrick

Missionary-Teacher in Ireland, 389-461 (?): Apostle to Ireland. Was a Roman-British Christian teenager who was enslaved at 16 by Irish pirates. After escaping six years later, he became a priest. Convicted he should return to Ireland to proclaim the Gospel through a dream/vision, he was ordained as one of Ireland's early bishops and left again from his home for Ireland (431 ?).

Peter Abelard

More than anyone before him, the teacher affirmed the scholastic manner of thinking with Aristotelian roots, in order to explain official orthodoxy. In the 13th century the Church came to embrace a similar form of rationale theologizing, that celebrated a rediscovery of Aristotle's writings and logic. Before his time, Plato's authority and universals were the basis for the prevailing Realism in Church teachings. Within 50 years of his death, Pope Innocent III accepted his doctrine of Limbo, which amended Augustine's doctrine of original sin. The Vatican accepted his view that unbaptized babies did not, as at first believed, go directly to hell but to a special area of Limbo. The teacher from Paris had an enormous influence on his contemporaries and the course of medieval thought. Said to be "the keenest thinker and boldest theologian of the 12th Century".

Helena

Mother of Emperor Constantine, 248-328: Claimed to find the True Cross. Constantine gave his mother access to the imperial treasury to locate the relics of Christian tradition. Had churches built in Jerusalem over holy sites of Christ's birth and ascension and in Sinai. Destroyed Hadrian's Temple to Venus built over Jesus' tomb, finding what was claimed to be the True Cross of Christ, where the Church of Holy Sepulchre was then built.

Clement of Rome

Nero persecuted Roman Christians after Rome burned in 64, and the congregation under this bishop suffered further persecution, especially under Domitian (81-96). He was banished to work in rock quarry in Crimea (Ukraine) under Emperor Trajan, where he cared for needs of fellow prisoners. Legends claim he was executed by being tied to an anchor and thrown into Black Sea.

Alopen

Nestorian Missionary to China, 7th Century: First documented missionary to China. Dates of his birth and death are unknown, and we only know his Chinese given name. Was a missionary from the Church of the East (Nestorian), and probably a Syriac-speaker from Persia (Iran).

Theodore of Mopsuestia

Nestorious' enemies claimed this bishop at one meeting with Nestorius had laid the groundwork for Nestorian unorthodox Christology (i.e., Christ had two distinct natures). The Church began thus to suppress the exegetical method taught at the School of Antioch, which the Nestorians (became Church of the East or Assyrian Church today) then carried to Persia and farther eastward. By 553, an Orthodox council issued an anathema against the long dead bishop, bringing a public hatred of him. In Persia and eastward, the Nestorians held the writings of the Bishop of Mopsuestia as the standard of faith. His name disappeared in the West, yet his works continued to be circulated under other names and greatly influenced Medieval biblical interpreters, to their good fortune.

Bridget

Noble Woman from Sweden, 1303-1373: Famous Catholic mystic. Very wealthy noble lady in Sweden. After her husband died in 1344, she became a lay member of the Franciscans and devoted herself wholly to a life of prayer and caring for the poor and the sick. In 1350, she braved a plague-stricken Europe to make a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain from the pope authorization of her new order of nuns that bears her name.

Theodore of Mopsuestia

Noted for principles of sound scriptural interpretation, which his monastic leader Diodore had inherited from an earlier generation of Antiochene teachers, along with peculiar views of the Person of Christ. Was then appointed Bishop of Mopsuestia, near Antioch. Became the chief living representative of the School of Antioch interpretative style (literal analysis of words based on contextual grammar and historical background). Such approach varied greatly from the more popular allegorical method promoted by the School of Alexandria (Origin).

Isabella

On March 31, 1492, she issued the Alhambra Decree for the expulsion of the Jews. Jews had until the end of July, three months, to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country without gold, silver, money, arms, or horses. Out of a population of 80,000 Jews, up to 40,000 left and the rest converted to Catholicism. Hundreds that remained came under the Inquisition's investigations of relapsed conversos and the Judaizers who had been abetting them. At the end of the Reconquista, only Muslim Granada was left for her and her husband to conquer, which took ten years, with victory in 1492. They converted the main city mosque into a church. The Treaty of Granada was signed later that year, allowing Muslims and Jews of Granada to live in peace.

Francis

On a pilgrimage to Rome, this Italian preacher joined the poor in begging at St. Peter's Basilica. The experience moved him to live in poverty, following Christ in not owning any possessions. Returned home, he began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. He began to spend much time in lonely places, asking God for enlightenment. By degrees he took to nursing repulsive lepers. He said he had a mystical vision of Christ, in which an icon of Christ's crucifixion said to him, "Go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He said he thought Christ meant to repair local church buildings and began to spend his father's wealth on the projects. His father beat him for doing so. In court, he then renounced his father and any inheritance, laying aside even the garments he had received from his father in front of the public. He then became a rural beggar, repairing ruined chapels.

Timothy I

One of his major acts as Patriarch of the East from Baghdad was the detachment of India from the metropolitan province in Persia and made it a separate metropolitan province. His letters record him ordaining bishops for Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turks of Central Asia, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Tibet, China in support of such missionary efforts. The letters also show a wide familiarity with literature from across the ancient Christian world. This patriarch was a very respected writer of scientific, theological, and liturgical books. Some 59 of his letters survive. He took a great interest in the missionary expansion of the Church of the East in an eastward direction.

Bernard

One of his own monastic disciples became Pope Eugenius III. Alarming news came from the Holy Land that the First Crusaders had been defeated at the Siege of Edessa (Turkey). The pope commissioned this abbot to preach a Second Crusade and grant the same indulgences of forgiveness of sins for crusaders which Pope Urban II had accorded to the First Crusade. To increase enthusiasm in 1146, the abbot preached across Europe that the taking of the cross for war was a means of gaining absolution from Christ for sin. He preached that the danger and fatigue of war were the penances for sin that God imposed upon them. He ordered the men to hasten then to expiate their sins by victories over the infidels, and let the deliverance of the Holy Land be the reward of their repentance. The people cried out, "God wills it!", as their fathers had cried 50 years earlier at the launch of the First Crusade.

Cyril of Alexandria

Opposed the Nestorian beliefs as heresy for political reasons. Wrote Twelve Anathemas to condemn Nestorius and lobbied the Emperor to support his views. Succeeded in driving a deepening wedge between the Catholic and Nestorian Churches over a controversy not clearly defined in Scripture.

Ufilas

Ordained a bishop of Goths by Eusebius of Nicomedia (Arian) and returned to his people to work as a missionary. In 348 Emperor Constantius II (Arian) allowed his tribe to settle near Nicopolis (Bulgaria). There he devised a Gothic alphabet and translated the Bible for his adopted people.

Frumentius

Ordained by Athanasius as first Bishop of Aksum (upper Nile region). Legend says he translated the New Testament into the Abyssinian language. The Abyssinian Church became today's Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which is the largest Oriental Orthodox Church group in the Middle East and related to the Coptic Orthodox Church (Egypt).

Nestorius

Patriarch of Constantinople (Turkey), 386-451: Taught Mary was Christ-Bearer. Was a Syrian student at the School of Antioch under Theodore of Mopsuestia. Rejected long-used title of Theotokos (Bearer of God) for the Virgin Mary. Thus many thought wrongly he did not believe that Christ was truly God. But he was a moderate, concerned that the Theotokos cult suggested God could be born. Wanted to avoid venerating Mary as a goddess. This brought him into conflict with prominent churchmen such as Bishop Cyril of Alexandria.

John Chrysostom

Patriarch of Constantinople, 347-407: Golden Mouth Preacher. Known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking. Famous for denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders. After his death in 407, he was given the Greek epithet Chrysostomos, meaning "golden mouth". Known chiefly as a preacher, theologian and liturgist. Among his homilies, eight directed against Judaizing Christians remain controversial for their impact on the development of Christian antisemitism.

Timothy I

Patriarch of the Church of the East (Nestorian), 8th-9th Century: Expanded the Church of the East. Ruled as Patriarch of the Church of the East from 780 to 823. Was a native of Adiabene (Iraq) under Persian Empire. As a young Christian man, he studied at the school of Bashisho. Became of the most impressive patriarchs in the long history of the Nestorian Church. Respected author, church leader, and diplomat. Reformed the metropolitan administration of the Church, granting greater independence to the metropolitans of the mission field (the 'exterior' provinces).

Irenaeus

Pointed to Scripture as a proof of orthodox Christianity against heresies. He classified as Scripture not only the Old Testament but most of the books now known as the New Testament. He admired the Gospel of John the most of any of four Gospels, affirming it's author as John the Apostle and that Luke wrote his own Gospel. Believed John's idea of logos was the voice of God, expressing his unity and goodness. Before this bishop, Christians differed as to which Gospel they preferred. Christians of Asia Minor preferred John. Matthew was the most popular overall. But the Bishop of Lyon's writings are the first to assert all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were canonical (inspired) Scripture. He also quotes from 21 of 27 books of today's New Testament.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

Preacher-Professor at Prague, Bohemia (Czech Republic), 1369-1415: Bohemian Catholic reformer and national hero. In 1406, two Bohemian students brought a document to the prestigious international Charles University in Prague, Bohemia (Czech Republic) bearing the seal of the University of Oxford which eulogized the English reformer John Wycliffe (22 years deceased). This preacher-professor read the document from his pulpit and began to study his writings.

Tertullian

Presbyter-Theologian at Carthage (Tunisia), 150-212: Defined the Trinity. His prolific writing influenced early popular theology as Father of Latin Christianity. Though conservative, he advanced new Latin or Western theological definitions for the early Church.

Margaret

Queen of Scotland, 1045-1093: Saintly Queen of Scots. This English noble woman fled to Scotland following the Norman conquest of England of 1066. Around 1070 Margaret married Malcolm III of Scotland, becoming his queen consort. She was a pious woman of many charitable works. Margaret was the mother of three kings of Scotland and a queen consort of England. In 1250 she was canonized by Pope Innocent IV, and her remains were reinterred in a shrine at Dunfermline Abbey. Her relics were dispersed after the Scottish Reformation and subsequently lost.

Isabella

Queen of Spain, 1451-1504: Queen who unified Spain. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, brought stability to the kingdoms that became unified Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. From a young age, her mother gave her a very devout Catholic upbringing. After becoming queen of Castile in 1474, she was more inclined to justice than to mercy, and indeed far more rigorous and unforgiving than her husband Ferdinand in dealing with enemies and criminals.

Thomas Aquinas

Recognized faith and reason as overlapping realms of knowledge. Immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism. Foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory. The study of his scholastic works is a core of the required program of study for Roman Catholic priests or deacons.

Peter Chelcicky

Reformer-Writer in Bohemia (Czech Republic) 1380-1460: First Christian pacifist reformer. He was a Christian, political leader and author in 15th century Bohemia. Was unusually literate for a Medieval man without a regular academic education. Influenced by Thomas of Stitny, John Wycliffe, Jan Hus (his national contemporary), and the Waldensian tradition.

Gregory VII - Hildebrand

Roman Pope, 1020-1085: Pope over Whole World. Born Hildebrand to Tuscany blacksmith. Was Italian monk and deacon, who became a great reforming pope. He implemented radical papal powers that gave the pope the power to depose kings. When this archdeacon was elected pope in 1073, the requirement that the Holy Roman Emperor be consulted in the matter was ignored. In his first year he excommunicated a Norman duke, condemned simony (payment to gain a church office), and confirmed celibacy for the Church's clergy.

Gregory I (the Great)

Roman Pope, 540-604: Defined Medieval Catholicism. Pope during the Early Medieval Age. Last of the great fathers of the Early Church. Known for his administrative skill and church reforms. Introduced many of the distinctively Catholic doctrines, such as penance, in their Medieval form, laying the groundwork for Medieval Catholicism and afterwards.

Origen

Scholar-Teacher of School of Alexandria (Egypt), 185-254: Systematized the integration of Greek philosophy with the Christian gospel. Most prolific theological writer and biblical exegete in the eastern part of the Empire. Provided critical edition of the Septuagint. Insisted that Christians must not change or alter the teachings of the apostles in any way. He is very early source for listing all 27 of today's NT books as widely accepted as inspired Scripture.

Thomas Aquinas

Scholasticism (learning via schoolmen) is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by this theologian and the eventually by academics of new Medieval universities in Europe from about 1100-1500 in order to harmonize Christian truth with classical philosophy. The goal was to train clergy how to articulate and defend dogma. Scholasticism places a strong emphasis on rigorous dialectical reasoning to extend knowledge by inference, and to resolve contradictions. A topic drawn from the tradition is broached in the form of a question, opponents' responses are given, a counter-proposal is argued and opponent's arguments rebutted.

Dionysius Exiguus

Scythian Monk-Scholar in Rome (died 544): Inventor of A.D. calendar. The A.D. method was invented by this highly respected scholar in Rome. He wanted a better method of determining the dates for Easter. At that time the Church used the current dating system based on the reign of the hated Emperor Diocletian (the great persecutor of Christians). His solution was to determine the year of Christ's birth (Anno Domini--in the year of our Lord) and set it as the start of his Easter calendar system. (Modern scholars claim that Christ was actually born about 4-6 B.C.). In the next century, Bede's use of the A.D. calendar is why it is now the most widely used official dating system around the world.

Boniface

Set up monasteries to aid in the work of converting Germanic pagans, and engaged in wandering ministry of direct contact with his potential converts in Germany. Worked tirelessly to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout the Frankish Empire in Western Europe. Sought to reform the Frankish Church as well. Forged alliance between the Roman papacy and the Carolingian royal family. Martel made this British missionary archbishop over most of Germania lands. Relied heavily on Martel's protection but chose to ordain his own disciples as bishops.

Isabella

She completed the Reconquista, retaking Spanish regions from the Muslim Moors, who had ruled the area for seven centuries. Ordered the conversion or exile of her Muslim and Jewish subjects. Initiated the Catholic Spanish Inquisition. With the Inquisition and Dominican friar Tomás de Torquemada as the first Inquisitor General, the Catholic monarchs pursued a policy of religious and national unity. Though the queen opposed harsh measures against Jews, the cruel Inquisition continued.

John Wycliffe

Shortly after this English reformer's death, the great Hussite movement (inspired by him) arose far away in Bohemia (Czech Republic) and spread through Middle Europe. The Oxford scholar is a standout of the forerunners to the Reformation because he published his sound theological declarations of biblical Christianity, regardless of Rome's approval. His Lollard followers faced persecution by the Catholic Church. They went underground for over a century and played a role in the English Reformation.

Bridget

Since childhood, this noble lady turned nun claimed to have visions she called "celestial revelations". These revelations made her a celebrity to some and a controversial figure to others across Europe. Her visions of the nativity of Jesus had a great influence on depictions of the nativity in art. Shortly before her death, she described a vision which included the infant Jesus as lying on the ground, and emitting light himself, and described Mary as blonde-haired, in prayer to the infant Jesus. Many depictions followed this and reduced other light sources in the scene to contrast this effect.

Dominic de Guzman

Spanish Priest, 1170-1221: Founder of the monastic order that bears his name. At 21 while studying theology in 1191, his life was changed by a famine that desolated Spain. It caused him to give away his money and sold his possessions and even manuscripts to feed the hungry. Became Benedictine monk, but saw the need to address the spiritual needs of the growing cities, one that would combine dedication and systematic education better than either monastic orders or clergy. Lived in poverty while learning to preach powerfully against heretical ideas. Focused on scholarship and was alarmed by heresies such as Gnostic Cathars in France.

Jacobus Baradaeus

Syraic Orthoodox Bishop of Edessa (Turkey), 505-578: Defender of Miaphysitism. The Council of Chalcedon (451) had declared the orthodox position of Dyophysitism (Christ is one person with two natures without confusion, without separation). Hence today all Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Churches embrace the Chalcedon Dyophysitism position.

John of Damascus

Syrian Monk-Priest, 676-749: Father of Eastern Scholasticism (learning by scholarly reasoning). Last of Church Fathers. Born and raised in Damascus in Christian family after Arabic Muslim invasion. May have served as a Chief Administrator to the Muslim caliph of Damascus before his ordination as a priest. Wrote about the assumption of Mary into heaven. Regarded as a Doctor of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. Died at his Mar Saba Monastery near Jerusalem. Composed hymns which are still used liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world.

Ephrem

Syrian Theologian and Hymn Writer, 301-373: Deacon who was an eloquent and prolific hymographer, having composed hymns, sermons, and harmony of the four Gospels. Epithet's include "Harp of the Holy Spirit" and "Marian Doctor". Taught Early Church to sing. He has been declared a Doctor of the Church in Roman Catholicism. He is especially beloved in the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Augustine

Taught that sacraments were only valid within the true Church, that the Eucharist became the actual body of Christ, and infant baptism was very important. In Retractions, he corrected (very rare in ancient world) some of his earlier thinking near the end of his life.

Clement of Alexandria

Teacher of School of Alexandria (Egypt), 150-215: First systematic theologian. Took over leadership of first Christian academy (Alexandria) for training leaders. First theologian who integrated Greek philosophy with Christianity. With his pupil Origen, he rejected the appointed bishop of Alexandria, Peter. Eventually exiled when Peter regained power. He is said to have written the hymn "Shepherd of Tender Youth", which is still sung today.

Peter Waldo

The Church began to persecute his Waldensian followers (now numbering in the 1000s). Many were tried and sentenced to death or outright attacked and massacred by imperial troops in various European countries during the 12th-17th centuries. Centuries after their founder's death, the Waldensian movement joined the Reformed branch of the Protestant Reformation. Some Waldesians still function as independent Protestant Reformed churches today.

Nestorius

The Syriac Orthodox Church and Church of the East embraced this anathemized Patriarch (along with the writings of deceased Theodore of Mopsuestia), leading the Western Church derisively to name them after this teacher. In the Roman Empire, the doctrine of Monophysitism (Christ had but one nature, with his human nature being absorbed into his divinity) developed in reaction to Nestorianism.

John Wycliffe

The University of Oxford in 1401 declared that his translation of Scripture into English by unlicensed laity was a crime punishable as heresy. The Catholic Council of Constance (Germany) in 1415 declared him a heretic. His books were burned. In 1428 at the command of Pope Martin V, his remains were dug up, burned, and the ashes cast into a river.

Benedict of Nursia

The famous monastic rule that he created (73 chapters) regulated a monks' spiritual life and how to administrate a monastery. His monks and nuns took three vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. It was intended for use at Monte Cassino but came to be used by 1000s of monasteries and convents across Europe.

Leo I (the Great)

The main legacy of this Bishop of Rome was his demand for the universal jurisdiction of the Roman bishopric because of Petrine supremacy. The Apostle Peter's primacy was mainly based on the Church's view of Matthew 16:16-19 and John 21:15-17. Thus many in the Early Church began to view Peter as the primary apostle and that his successor bishops carried the same authority. Since they believed that Peter ordained the first bishops of Rome, that seat held his faith and ministry. Others in the Early Church and later viewed the two referenced passages as Christ's symbolic instructions to Peter, applicable to church leaders in general. Also in Acts (Acts 15) and the Epistles, many scholars observe that no special preference is given to Peter over the other apostles.

Dominic de Guzman

The origin of the rosary bead necklace is attributed to this priest's preaching and has been for centuries at the heart of his order. He claimed that an apparition by the Virgin Mary in 1214 gave him the concept of the rosary in the church of Prouille, France. Praying the rosary gradually developed into the practice of using each bead of the rosary to pray a set sequence of prayers, such as Hail Mary, the Lord's Prayer, Glory Be to the Father, etc. This Spanish priest taught that its use shows our devotion to Christ through Mary.

Anselm

The world-view of this English archbishop was broadly that of Neoplatonism, which he inherited from his primary influence, Augustine of Hippo. He also inherited a rationalist way of thinking from Aristotle. He taught that the very existence of things (goodness, justice, greatness) is impossible without some one Being, by whom they come to exist. This absolute Being, this goodness, justice and greatness is God. As a philosopher, he knew the inadequacy of such inductive reasoning based on the presumption that God exists. This drove him to develop his famous proof for the existence of God, still respected today as the "ontological argument", using the idea that God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, so he must exist in reality.

Mesrop Mashtots

Theologian-Linguist of Armenia, 361-441: Father of Armenian literature. He ministered during a difficult time, when Armenia was partitioned into two regions, each ruled by Byzantine and Persia. He invented Armenian alphabet to strengthen Armenian Church, which eventually united Byzantine and Persian Armenians. Helped develop Georgian and Caucasian Albanian alphabets. Became a national Armenian hero.

Peter Abelard

Theology-Philosophy Teacher at University of Paris, 1079-1142: A Bold Father of Western Scholasticism. He was a brilliant Medieval philosopher, theologian, charismatic, and radical lecturer in Paris. As a youth, he wandered throughout France, debating and learning. Finally came to Paris while he was still in his teens to study at the School of Notre-Dame de Paris. He was soon able to defeat the master in argument, resulting in a long duel that ended in the downfall of the philosophic theory of Realism, until then dominant in the early Medieval Age (to be replaced by his Conceptualism or Nominalism, the principal rival of Realism).

Clement of Rome

There is no primary document evidence for a single ruling bishop in Rome at the time of this early bishop. In the apostolic churches covered by the NT book of Acts, it appears that individual congregations were ruled by a plurality of elders, who were also called bishops. They were either appointed by the apostles or elected by the local church. Later and slowly congregations began to appoint one of their key elders to rule their local church, using the term bishop uniquely for them. By the middle of the second century (within fifty years of the last apostle's death--John), all the leading Christian centers had a ruling bishop over their urban churches.

Cosmas Indicopleustes

This Alexandrian businessman was the first traveler to mention Syrian Christians in India. Whatever the historicity of the Thomas tradition, the earliest known organized Christian presence in India dates to around the 3rd century, when East Syrian settlers and missionaries from Persia (Church of the East or Nestorian Church) established themselves in Kerala. The Indian St. Thomas Christians trace the further growth of their community to the mission of Thomas of Cana, a Nestorian from the Middle East said to have relocated to Kerala some time between the 4th and 8th century.

Anselm

This Archbishop of Canterbury and Norman kings of England fought over the archbishop's demands that the king submit to the reforms of the deceased Pope Gregory VII, accept the independent primacy of the papacy and archbishopric over England's spiritual affairs, recognize the archbishop's rule over all of England, Wales, and Ireland, stop controlling church office selection, and enforce clerical celibacy and sobriety. They also fought over the king's demand that the archbishop support his politics and wars.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

This Bohemian preacher was a key forerunner of the Protestant Reformation. His memory has become a powerful symbol of Czech culture in Bohemia. His teachings had a strong influence on the states of Europe, the reformist Bohemian religious denomination (Unitas Fratrum or the United Brethren Moravian Church), and on Martin Luther himself. In Germany 102 years after the Bohemian's death, Luther nailed his 95 Thesis list of similar protests to the Wittenberg Church door.

Peter Chelcicky

This Bohemian reformer emphasized the New Testament as the exclusive and final source to know the will of God. He held two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper. He encouraged people to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. He rebuked the Catholic pope and the Holy Roman emperor for making the Church head of a secular empire. Believed that Christians should follow the law of love, and in so doing should not be compelled by state authority. Wrote "The man who obeys God needs no other authority." Taught that the believer should not accept government office, nor even appeal to its authority, as for the true believer to take part in government was sinful. He argued that capital punishment and other forms of violent punishment were wrong.

Bernard

This Catholic French abbot held some doctrines which the Reformers would later rekindle at the beginnings of the Protestant movement. In truth he held to a mix of the Reformers' doctrines and the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church of his day. Also of great importance to the Reformers would be his conception of justification. Calvin quotes the abbot several times to show the historical validity of "by faith alone" (sola fide), which Luther described as the article upon which the church stands or falls. Calvin also quotes him in setting forth his doctrine of a forensic alien righteousness, or as it is commonly called imputed righteousness.

Babai the Great

This Catholicos persevered in the face of Perisan suppression to set the foundational pillars of his Church of the East, revived the monastic movement, and formulated its nearly orthodox Christology in a systematic way. He served as unofficial co-leader of the Church from 611 to 628, leaving a legacy of strong discipline and essential orthodoxy. The Persian emperor was murdered in 628. So in 628 the Church of the East unanimously elected their unofficial leader as Catholicos, but he declined. Soon he died in the cell of his monastery on Mt. Izla (Turkey).

Timothy I

This Church of the East leader organized the Indian churches as the Ecclesiastical Province of India, one of the church's illustrious Provinces of the Exterior. After this point the Province of India was headed by a metropolitan bishop, provided from Persia, the "Metropolitan-Bishop of the Seat of Saint Thomas and the Whole Christian Church of India". His metropolitan see was probably in Cranganore or Mylapore, where the shrine of Thomas was located. Under him were a varying number of bishops, as well as a Indian archdeacons, who had authority over the clergy and wielded a great amount of secular power.

Samuel the Confessor

This Egyptian Coptic desert monk was beaten by Cyrus, the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria, who ordered him to be driven away from the Nitrian Desert. Before the Council of Chalcedon, Coptic leaders had promoted all the statements from the main church councils (Nicene, Ephesus, and Constantinople). But most of them rejected Chalcedon as Nestorian heresy.

John Wycliffe

This English professor claimed that Jesus is the Head of the Church, not the pope. He emphasized the supremacy and final authority of the Bible for truth (not church tradition), and called for a direct relationship between man and Christ, without interference by priests and bishops. Claimed clergy should not be wealthy landowners. Attacked the corruption of the Catholic clergy and questioned the power of the pope.

Venerable Bede

This English scholar popularized the Anno Domini calendar system (A.D.). At the time there were two common ways of referring to dates. One was to use indictions, which were 15-year cycles, counting from 312 AD., when Constantine conquered in the sign of the cross. There were three different varieties of indiction, each starting on a different day of the year. The other approach was to use regnal years—the reigning Roman emperor, for example, or the ruler of whichever kingdom was under discussion. This meant that in discussing conflicts between kingdoms, the date would have to be given in the regnal years of all the kings involved. Bede used both these approaches on occasion, but adopted a third method as his main approach to dating: the anno domini method.

Peter Waldo

This French preacher thought the commoner should be able to preach. Defied church officials and exhorted Christians to live more piously. He began to preach and teach publicly, based on his ideas of simplicity and poverty, notably that "No man can serve two masters, God and mammon". He strongly condemned papal excesses and Catholic dogmas, including purgatory and transubstantiation. He even accused them of being the harlot from the book of Revelation.

John of Damascus

This Greek Orthodox monk argued that iconoclasm (removal/destruction of Christian images/art from churches) was heretical. Said that images could be venerated, not adored. He claimed God's Son is image incarnate of Father; invisible God took on material form; humans are both material and spiritual and thus can use images.

Benedict of Nursia

This Italian abbot did not intend lectio divina to be a theological analysis of biblical passages to learn about Christ but to achieve a mystical experience in the presence of Christ. For example, given Jesus' statement in John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you", an analytical approach would focus on the reason for the statement during the Last Supper and it's meaning to the Apostles at that time, which would then guide the application in the life of the believer. But in lectio divina the believer experiences the peace of Christ through whatever inner realities occur in prolonged silent meditation, which could dangerously make the student open to spiritual deception.

Francis

This Italian preacher withdrew increasingly from management of his large order to rural meditation and preaching. In 1224 he was praying on the mountain of Verna during a forty-day fast. He claimed to have vision, wherein an angel gave him the five wounds of Christ on the cross (the first recorded stigmata). The next year in 1225, he wrote the hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King", which is still a popular hymn today around the world. Two years later in 1226 at the age of 48 and still suffering from the trauma of the stigmata and other illnesses, he died near Assisi, where his remains lie entombed today. He died listening to Psalm 142 being read to him. Today he is one of the most respected religious figures in history.

Alopen

This Nestorian missionary to China is known exclusively from the Chinese Nestorian Stele (781), which describes his arrival during the Tang Dynasty in the imperial capital of Chang-an (modern Xi'an in central China) in 635 and acceptance by Emperor Taizong (599-649). Taizong's father had just established six years earlier the new Tang Dynasty (618-907). This Persian missionary was the earliest known name that can be attached to the history of Nestorianism in China. According to the stele, he and fellow missionaries came to China from the Roman Empire, bringing sacred books.

Benedict of Nursia

This abbot believed that the Holy Spirit would be Christ's messenger of a deeper meaning behind the biblical text in a mystical sense. Obedience to the literal understanding of the passage in it's original context was not as important as the mystical experience itself. Such method of Bible reading steered the Medieval Church away from the ancient form of exegesis as taught at the Antioch Church, where a true understanding of the person and work of Christ was achieved by a reasonable study of the literal words of Scripture in pursuit of the obvious meaning of the text.

Bernard

This abbot expanded upon Anselm of Canterbury's role in transmuting the sacramental-ritual Christianity of the Early Medieval Age into a new, more personally held faith, with the life of Christ as a model and a new emphasis on the Virgin Mary. He preached a dualistic mediator faith, wherein the Virgin Mary interceded for us to Christ. He had a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, and he would later write several works about the Queen of Heaven. However, he was skeptical of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Benedict of Nursia

This monastic leader's use of lectio divina did not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as an aid to discover the secret Living Word by meditation. The roots of scriptural reflection and interpretation go back to Origen in the 3rd century, after whom Ambrose taught them to Augustine. The monastic practice of lectio divina was first established in the 6th century by this abbot of Monte Cassino and was then formalized as a 4 step process by the Carthusian monk, Guigo II, in the 12th century.

Bridget

This mystic Swede wanted to elevate the moral tone of 14th century Europe. This was during the period of the Great Schism within the Roman Catholic Church, and she had to wait in Rome 20 years for the return of the papacy to Rome for his blessing her new order. The pope was in the French city of Avignon, a move for which she agitated for many years. It was not until 1370 that Pope Urban V, during his brief attempt to re-establish the papacy in Rome, confirmed the rule of the her new order, but meanwhile she had made herself universally beloved in Rome by her kindness and good works.

Columba

This noble-born student was one of twelve students who studied at the Clonard monastery under Finnian. They were known as the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland". He became a monk and eventually was ordained a priest and founded several monasteries. Later in a violent and deadly dispute over his claim of ownership of a manuscript, many men were killed in a monastery battle (561). A local synod allowed him to go into exile instead of excommunication. In exile he went as a missionary with twelve friends to Scotland (563) to help convert as many people as had been killed in the battle.

Gregory I (the Great)

This pope affirmed the existence of an afterlife place of purification by torment that led to doctrine of purgatory. He taught that purgatorial fire can only purify minor transgressions, not "iron, bronze, or lead," or other hardened sins. Such mortal sins causes eternal damnation. That pope's view of purgatory demonstrates the Roman Church's growing dependence on the teachings of the Church Fathers and not Scripture alone as their authority for truth.

Leo I (the Great)

This powerful 5th century Roman bishop centralized much spiritual and governing authority within the Church under his office. While the Bishop of Rome had always been viewed as the chief patriarch in the Western church, much of his authority had been limited to local diocesan bishops. By 443 he demanded in a letter that other bishops in Italy follow all his instructions, like when converts should be baptized. Asserted his authority in Gaul, as an overseer of Bishop Hilary of Poitiers, who defended his independent authority at Rome.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

This preacher's reformations had become widely accepted in Bohemia, and there was popular resentment against the Church hierarchy and corruption. The attack on the preacher by the Pope and Archbishop caused riots in parts of Bohemia. Bohemian King Wenceslaus took the side of the preacher, who continued to teach in the Bethlehem Chapel. As a result the churches of the Prague were put under the papal ban. The preacher especially spoke out boldly against the Church selling indulgences to fund the pope's Crusade war against Naples. (The papacy authorized the sale of indulgences for donations as written promises of forgiveness.)

Peter Abelard

This teacher from Paris had clarified the moral influence theory of atonement regarding why Christ died. This view holds that the main reason Christ died and rose from the dead was to cause people to live better lives by his loving example. Moral influence had been the main explanation taught by ancient Church Fathers, including Augustine. That view had been opposed by Anselm of Canterbury and later by Bernard of Clairvaux, who favored the satisfaction of God's justice view.

Alopen

Three centuries after he brought Christianity to China, his Nestorian movement disappeared with the fall of the Tang Dynasty in the early 10th century (about 907). Christianity did not return for three more centuries, when it was reintroduced by Nestorian Christians among the Mongols. The story of this Persian missionary became prominent again in the 17th century, when the lost Nestorian Stele was rediscovered by the Chinese. The Chinese were surprised to see that the "new" religion being preached by the 17th century missionaries had actually been in existence in China more than 10 centuries earlier.

Bridget

To the ritual prayers of this Swedish abbess, various promises of indulgence (release from punishment for sins) were added by members of her order, with other assurances of supernatural graces supposed to attend from their regular recitation over the course of a year. Their use, it became promised, would release from purgatory fifteen of the devotee's family members, and keep fifteen living family members in a state of grace. In 1954, the Catholic Church found the alleged promises (though not the prayers themselves) unreliable and prohibited the printing of any literature containing such promises.

Origen

To this Alexandrian teacher, the major interpretive element of Scripture is Christ. To him all Scriptural texts are secondary to Christ and are only revelations in as much as they refer to Christ as the Word of God. In this view, using Christ as the interpretive key unlocks the message in Scriptural texts. Other schools of interpretation of Scripture in the Ancient Church agreed that a better understanding of the person and work of Christ is key to interpreting Scripture, but they viewed the method of arriving at such understanding was through a reasonable study of the literal words (such as the School of Antioch), not in trying to discover a subjective, allegorical, hidden meaning.

Constantine Cyril

Today many Slavic languages use Cyrillic (Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, He and his brother Methodius were responsible for creation of the written alphabet for Slavic that later evolved into the Cyrillic script (based on Greek). Macedonia, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine). Many Slavs responded to the use of Slavonic language instead of Greek or Latin to celebrate mass (to the rebuke of the pope).

Nestorius

Today many of this teacher's followers are part of the global Assyrian Church of the East, using Chicago, IL as a center. Their liturgy is in Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Manuscript discoveries in the 20th century have led Catholic scholars to reassess his theology as almost identical to theirs.

Patrick

Took a strategic approach by focusing on the kings, vigorously traveling throughout Ireland and converted many of the local Celtic kings. Established monasteries to continue the work of evangelization and education. Once he was robbed of all he had and put in chains. Saw thousands respond to the Gospel. Perhaps the greatest of Irish heroes, he has become one of the world's strongest symbols of Irish national identity.

Justin Martyr

Traveled from Palestine to Rome to setup a Christian school, where he discipled Tatian, an Assyrian early Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Taitian wrote the Diatessaron, a harmony of the four Gospels that became the standard text of the Gospels in the Syriac-speaking churches until the 5th-century.

Origen

Two centuries later this teacher's scriptural reflection transformed into the monastic practice of lectio divina (divine reading) developed by Benedict. Lectio divina later became the most popular way to reading the Bible for Medieval monastics (monks and friars). But a key contribution to the foundation of lectio divina came from this Alexandrian teacher in the 3rd century through his emphasis on allegorical interpretation.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

Two years after this Bohemian preacher first read Wycliffe's writings, Pope Gregory XII warned the Bohemian archbishop of Wycliffe's heresies. This prompted the king and the university to clear themselves of heretical suspicion. Wycliffe's writings were ordered surrendered. This preacher obeyed, declaring that he condemned any errors in those writings. Yet he and many church leaders agreed with many of Wycliffe's arguments against Catholic error and corruption.

Ambrose

Under his major influence, three emperors began the persecution and outlawing of paganism throughout the empire. Told his disciple Augustine that liturgy was a tool to serve people in worshiping God and ought not to become a rigid entity that is invariable from place to place. The powerful Mariology of this bishop influenced contemporary popes in the virginity of Mary and venerating her role as Mother of God. He viewed virginity as superior to marriage and saw Mary as the model of virginity. Ranks with Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great, as one of the four great Latin Doctors of the Roman Catholic Church.

Justin Martyr

Under the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he and six Christians were arrested after accusations of teaching false philosophies. They were tried and beheaded probably in 165. His writings and martyrdom influenced Irenaeus and Tertulian. The value of his few surviving works points to an early acceptance by the 2nd century of the authenticity of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture and acceptance of the Synoptic Gospels. Most importantly, he documents a broad acceptance of Christ as the Son of God, as Creator made manifest as a human, crucified, and risen from the dead. He shows sign of division among the orthodox only on the question of the millennial reign of Christ and on the attitude toward moderate Jewish Christians.

Isabella

Under this queen's eye, Cisneros, Archbishop of Toledo, rehabilitated the religious institutions of Spain, laying the groundwork for the later Counter-Reformation. Towards the end of her life, family tragedies overwhelmed her, although she met these reverses with fortitude. Yet she submerged in profound sadness that made her dress in black for the rest of her life, dying in 1504. Five years later her daughter Catherine became Queen of England by marriage to Henry VIII. As much as any other person, she led Spain to become the Defender of Catholicism.

Babai the Great

Unofficial Catholicos (Patriarch) of Church of the East, 551-628: A theological church father of the Assyrian Church of the East. Studied at School of Nisibis (planted by School of Antioch). Founded a monastery and theological school in his home region of Beth Zabdai (Turkey) under the Church of the East (Nestorian).

Hilary

Very popular teacher so that local believers elected him bishop in 350, even though he was married. Became strong defender of Nicene creed against Arians, who were very strong in the West. As a result, the Arian leaning Emperor Constantius II banished him to Phrygia (Turkey) from 356-361. From Phrygia he still ruled his diocese in Gaul, even writing letters to semi-Arian bishops in Gaul, Germany, and Britian to affirm the Nicene Creed. Claimed the Arian emperor was the Antichrist.

Venerable Bede

Was a skilled English linguist and translator, and his work with the Latin and Greek writings of the early Church Fathers contributed significantly to English Christianity, making the writings much more accessible to his fellow Anglo-Saxons. His monastery had access to a superb library which included works by Eusebius and Orosius among many others.

Peter Chelcicky

Was a socialist reformer in the primitive Christian sense, teaching there must be complete equality in the Christian community. There should be no rich or poor, since the Christian relinquished all property and status. He maintained that Christians could expel evil persons from their community but could not compel them to be good. He believed in equality, but the State should not force it upon society, that social inequality is a creature of the State, and rises and falls with it.

Ambrose

Was an Italian wise leader, gifted theologian, outspoken on duty of Christians to help the poor and unfortunate, for whom he gave away his wealth. Yet his concern was for unfortunate Christians only. His well-studied and rhetorical preaching impressed the pagan, Augustine of Hippo, who hitherto had thought poorly of Christian preachers. Very effective defender of Nicene Creed against Arians, even with the Arian Emperor Valentinian.

Augustine

Was forced to become bishop (395), which he feared would hinder his calling to write. Author of more than 93 books and treatises. Wrote some of the most influential literature in the history of Western civilization. Held four radical concepts of learning: transforming experiences, truth-search journeys, learning in community, and building a love of learning.

Anselm

While in Rome, this English archbishop was asked to debate theologians from the Greek Orthodox Church at a large council on why the West believed the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son (Filioque controversy) and the use of unleavened break in the Eucharist. Finally in 1106 Henry I visited the archbishop in exile and agreed to most of his demands. After so many years of church-state struggle, the archbishop returned to Canterbury to concentrate on his duties, then died three years later in 1109.

Catherine

While tormented with sorrow at an elder sister's death, at 16 this Italian mystic started a strict fast to prevent a forced marriage to her widowed brother-in-law. Being victorious, she learned the power of fasting in close relationships. Slowly she learned to endure hardship by building mental spiritual realities as a source of pleasure and spiritual growth. When her mother refused to let her become a Dominican, she became quite ill until her mother consented to let her associate with the convent. While still living at home, she chose to live in almost total silence and solitude in the family home. Eventually she became a full sister, against the protests of her older mentors, since they were all widows.

Anselm

William II of England (son of last invader of England, the Norman William the Conqueror) in 1089 seized the possessions and revenues of the deceased Archbishop of Canterbury. Eventually the king forced this Abbot of Bec to take the office in 1093. But over the next several years, both William and later King Henry I regretted the offer.

Babai the Great

Within five years of this Catholicos' death, Arabic Muslim invasions penetrated the Persian empire in 633 and soon conquered most of the Middle East. Later during Medieval times, the Church of the East extended well beyond its heartland in present-day Turkey-Iraq. Their communities sprang up throughout Central Asia, and missionaries took the Christian faith to China and the Malabar Coast of India. Today their theological father is greatly revered in the modern Assyrian Church of the East.

Jan Hus (John Huss)

Without a rapid means of printing, this Bohemian preacher's ideas did not result in major reforms. The same Catholic Council of Constance (Germany) which had condemned Wycliffe demanded the reformer come and stand trial, under a promise of safe conduct by the Holy Roman king. Within a few weeks of arrival he was harshly imprisoned for several months. Finally the trial began with the reading of his writings, and he was asked to recant. He declared himself willing to recant if his errors should be proven from the Bible. The council passed the death sentence for his heretical writings. At his execution on July 6, 1415, he was asked one more time to recant. He replied, "In the same truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached. . . I am ready to die today." He was then burned at the stake, and his ashes thrown into the Rhine River.

Nestorius

Without any cross-examination, the First Council of Ephesus (Turkey) in 431 condemned him for heresy (before the Antioch leaders arrived), removing him as Patriarch. Then eastern bishops arrived and called their own synod, which deposed Cyril. Finally in 435, Emperor Theodosius II exiled him (as well as deposing 17 supportive bishops) to Upper Egypt, where he lived until 451, strenuously defending his orthodoxy. His last major defender within the Roman Empire, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, finally agreed to anathematize him in 451.

Ephrem

Wrote a wide variety of very popular hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the church in troubled times. One of most significant fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition. Possibly founded the theological School of Nisibis (Turkey), which became center of learning of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Nisibis school carried the exegetical heritage of the old Antioch School.

Ambrose

Wrote that the Church must be independent of the emperor and that bishops should have the right to chastise rulers. Wrote emperor is only in the Church, not over it. Rebuked Emperor Theodosius for forcing a bishop in Syria to rebuild a Jewish synagogue he had led a mob to destroy. The bishop of Milan claimed such action was a legitimate response to the blasphemers of Christ. The emperor recanted, which encouraged anti-Semitism in the empire. Later he threatened excommunication of same emperor after he had massacred the rebellious citizens of Thessalonica (the emperor repented again).

Clement of Rome

Wrote the fraternal exhortation letter of 1 Corinth (not the NT letter of Paul), and it is one of the oldest extant Christian documents outside the New Testament. He asked the Corinthians to reinstate their deposed elders, on the grounds that they ruled with apostolic authority. His writings are key to idea of apostolic succession of leaders. Used terms bishop and elder interchangeably.

Justin Martyr

Wrote to the outsiders of Christianity, to explain and defend Christian beliefs. He used the term logos to show that Greek philosophy used the same logos as in Christian theology. However, in Christian theology, logos meant that the Word became flesh and therefore Christian knowledge is higher and more precise of that of Greek philosophers. He addressed his apologetic writings, such as the First Apology and Dialogue with Trypho, to emperors, senators, philosophers, and the public. His goal was to show the superior wisdom of Christian Scripture over pagan writings.