Historical Writings

[or the 13th] Consecration of the Church of the Anastasis (Church of the Resurrection), commissioned by Emperor Constantine at the reputed site of Christ’s Resurrection. The church will not be completed for about fifty more years.

Dedication of the Cathedral in Ely, England. King Henry III and Prince Edward are present.

Assassination of the fierce inquisitor Peter Arbues at Saragossa, Spain. He is struck from behind while at prayer in the cathedral. Later the church will declare him a saint.

Valentine Crautwald receives in a vision the Schwenckfelder view of the Eucharist: "spiritual grain" eaten by faith grows in a believer, transforming him or her toward the full image of God, the person of Christ.

Don Gaspar Centellas of Valencia, a gentleman of birth and culture, is burned to death, having refused to recognize the Roman Church and pope as the Church of God.

Death of Swiss reformer Heinrich Bullinger. He had succeeded Zwingli at Zurich and because of the hospitality he extended to English exiles, had gained influence with the English Puritans.

Domingo Salazar, first bishop of the Philippines, and his Jesuit companions reach Manila, having walked overland the last two months because winds were unfavorable for sailing.

After extracting as many concessions as possible, Pope Clement VIII grants absolution to Henry IV of France, formerly a Protestant, so that he will be able to rule France.

Death in Rome of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, celebrated Jesuit defender of Roman Catholic teaching against Protestant theologies. He had also delivered the admonition to Galileo to no longer teach the heliocentric theory.

(old calendar) English authorities hang a Jesuit priest, Ralph Corbie (or Corbington), in London for adhering to his faith.

Massachusetts enacted severe laws against Quakers. (At the time, government and religion were intricately interwoven; the line between blasphemy and treason was virtually nonexistent; and non-sacramental Quakerism gave the impression that the denomination was anti-government.)

Death of John Campanius, Lutheran missionary to Indians.

The first synod of the Presbyterian Church in America met in Philadelphia.

Along the western coast of North America, a party of 247 Spanish colonists consecrated their newly-founded mission, known as San Francisco.

The U.S. Constitution -- ratified on this date -- contained the following code under Article 6, Section 3: 'No religious tests shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.'

Consecration of Thomas John Claggett at Trinity Church, New York City, by Bishops Samuel Seabury, William White, Samuel Provoost, and James Madison. He is the first Episcopal bishop consecrated in America, the others having obtained consecration in England or Scotland.

Santa Ynez Mission is founded in California. Working here, Father Arroyo will prepare a grammar of the language of the Indians of the San Juan region.

Upon her release from prison, a woman walks several miles to Kaiserswerth to ask pastor Theodore Fliedner for help and is given a small outbuilding as a temporary shelter, inaugurating what will become the Kaiserswerth institutions.

Birth of Walter Gowans, Canadian missions pioneer. In 1893 he helped found the Sudan Interior Mission in Toronto. Today, SIM works with African nationals and specializes in church planting, medicine and broadcasting.

International Union of Gospel Missions (IUGM) is founded, uniting in cooperation many groups which are operating rescue missions.

Romanian authorities sentence Voicu Rusin to twenty-five years of forced labor for refusing to abandon his Pentecostal faith.

Ground-breaking ceremony for the Adventist College of West Africa in Nigeria, that will train thousands of Africans and later become Babcock University.