Reformation Timeline
Reformation Timeline
In so modest a volume only the barest story may be contained of the remarkable work of grace which played out in the bravest of lives. Each name below merits a book chapter of its own, as does the life and death of each martyr not included here. The inclusion of several leading figures not appearing elsewhere in this book is to invite readers’ further exploration.
In the few instances where dates are unverifiable, we have shown those most commonly used.
1324 John Wycliffe, ‘Morning Star of the Reformation,’ born in Yorkshire, England
1369 Jan Hus born in Husinec, Bohemia
1384 John Wycliffe dies in Leicestershire, England. His challenge to contemporary beliefs was continued by a diffuse group known as the Wycliffites or (derisively) Lollards.
1401 Statute passed in England for burning of ‘heretiks.’ William Sawtrey is the first to burn, in Smithfield, London.
1407 James Resby burned in Perth, Scotland in 1407 or 1408
1412 Jan Hus appeals publicly to Jesus Christ above church authority
1414 Jan Hus lured to Council of Constance. Burned in Constance, Switzerland
1416 Graduands at St Andrews University required to swear resistance to Lollards
1433 Paul Craw (or Pavel Kravar) from Bohemia burned in St Andrews, Scotland
1450 Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press
1466 Desiderius Erasmus born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
1483 Martin Luther born in Eisleben, Saxony
1484 Huldrych Zwingli born in Wildhaus, Switzerland
1487 Hugh Latimer born in Leicestershire, England
1489 Thomas Cranmer born in Nottinghamshire, England
1491 William Tyndale born in Gloucestershire, England
1494 Martin Bucer born in Sélestat, France
1495 Thomas Bilney born in Norfolk, England
1499 Peter Martyr Vermigli born in Florence, Italy, and John a Lasco in Łask, Poland
1500 Nicholas Ridley born in Northumberland, England
1505 Luther joins Augustinian monastery
1504 Heinrich Bullinger born in Aargau, Switzerland
1509 John Calvin born in Noyon, France
1513 John Knox born in Haddington, Scotland
1516 Erasmus publishes Greek New Testament
1517 Luther posts 95 Theses to door of Castle Church, Wittenberg
1521 Diet of Worms. Luther taken into protective custody in Wartburg Castle, where he translates the New Testament into German. Henry VIII publishes his Defence of the Seven Sacraments against Luther and is awarded the title ‘Defender of the Faith.’
1522 Luther completes German translation of the New Testament
1526 William Tyndale’s English New Testament completed
1528 Patrick Hamilton burned for heresy in St Andrews, Scotland
1531 Thomas Bilney burned for heresy in Norwich, England
1532 Thomas Cranmer consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury
1534 Henry VIII declared ‘supreme head of the church in England.’ First complete edition of Luther’s translation of the Bible.
1536 Calvin arrives in Geneva. First edition of his Institutes published. Erasmus dies. William Tyndale executed. Lady Jane Gray born, probably in Leicestershire, England
1546 Luther dies in Eisleben, Germany
1547 Henry VIII dies. Succeeded by his evangelical son, Edward VI
1549 Book of Common Prayer published
1551 Martin Bucer dies in Cambridge
1553 Death of Edward Vl. First cousin Lady Jane Gray crowned as Queen of England, but deposed after nine days.
1553–8 ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary ascends to the throne and restores Roman Catholicism to England
1554 Lady Jane Gray beheaded
1555 Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer burned in Oxford
1556 Thomas Cranmer burned in Oxford
1558 Elizabeth I succeeds Mary, returning the Church of England to roughly its Edwardian state
1560 John a Lasco dies in Pińczów, Poland
1562 Peter Martyr Vermigli dies in Zurich, Switzerland
1564 Calvin dies in Geneva, Switzerland
1572 John Knox dies in Edinburgh, Scotland
1575 Heinrich Bullinger dies in Zurich, Switzerland
1611 King James Version (or Authorized Version) of the Bible completed
Confessional Statements Following the Start of the Reformation
1523 Sixty-Seven Articles of Ulrich Zwingli
1527 Schleitheim Confession
1530 Augsburg Confession
1536 Genevan Confession
1561 Belgic Confession
1563 Heidelberg Catechism
1571 Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England
1619 Canons of Dort
1647 Westminster Confession
1689 Second London Baptist Confession
Notes
. Onetime Rector of the University of Prague, himself influenced by Wycliffe, and whose writing would influence Luther.
. See the classic The Story of the Scottish Reformation by A M Renwick (Christian Focus Publications).
. Marked the start of Bohemia’s Reformation. Unnamed ‘common men’ were burned this year, probably the next-earliest martyrs. Over the course of the fifteenth century there was a spiritual dawn in several European countries. To borrow from Reformation scholar Heiko Oberman, the Reformation was the great harvest of the preceding centuries. Martin Luther himself was standing on the shoulders of giants.