1320 AD - Pope John XXII laid the groundwork for future witch-hunts with the formalisation of the persecution of witchcraft

Pope John XXII (Latin: Ioannes XXII; 1244^[1] – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was Pope from 7 August 1316 to his death in 1334.

He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by the Conclave of Cardinals, which was assembled in Lyon through the work of King Louis X's brother Philip, the Count of Poitiers, later King Philip V of France. Like his predecessor, Clement V, Pope John centralized power and income in the Papacy and lived a princely life in Avignon.^[2] He opposed the political policies of Louis IV of Bavaria as Holy Roman Emperor, which prompted Louis to invade Italy and set up an antipope, Nicholas V.

Pope John XXII faced controversy in theology involving his views on the Beatific Vision, and he opposed the Franciscan understanding of the poverty of Christ and his apostles, famously leading William of Ockham to write against unlimited papal power^[3]. He canonized St. Thomas Aquinas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_XXII

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Witch trials in the early modern period

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The period of witch trials in Early Modern Europe^[1] were a widespread moral panic suggesting that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to Christendom during the 16th to 18th centuries.^[2] Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being worshipers of the Devil, who engaged in such acts as malevolent sorcery at meetings known as Witches' Sabbaths. Many people were subsequently accused of being witches, and were put on trial for the crime, with varying punishments being applicable in different regions and at different times.

Though some of the earliest trials are from the Late Medieval period following Pope Innocent VIII's issue of the Summis desiderantes affectibus, which recognized the existence of witches and gave full papal approval for the inquisition to move against witches, the peak of witch hunting was during the European wars of religion, climaxing from 1580 to 1630. The witch hunts declined in the early 18th century, culminating with the British Witchcraft Act of 1735, but there were sporadic witch-trials during the second half of the 18th century, the last known dating to 1782^[3] (though a prosecution was commenced in Tennessee as recently as 1833).^[4][5][6]

An estimated total of 40,000-60,000 people were executed during the witch trials. Among the best known of these trials were the Scottish North Berwick witch trials, Swedish Torsåker witch trials and the American Salem witch trials. Among the largest and most notable were the Trier witch trials (1581–1593), the Fulda witch trials (1603–1606), the Würzburg witch trial (1626–1631) and the Bamberg witch trials (1626–1631).

The sociological causes of the witch-hunts have long been debated. Mainstream historiography sees the reason for the witch craze in a complex interplay of various factors that mark the early modern period, including the religious sectarianism in the wake of the Reformation, besides other religious, societal, economic and climatic factors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trials_in_the_early_modern_period

1271–1272 AD- The Ninth Crusade failed

The Ninth Crusade, which is sometimes grouped with the Eighth Crusade, is commonly considered to be the last major medieval Crusade to the Holy Land. It took place in 1271–1272.

Louis IX of France's failure to capture Tunis in the Eighth Crusade led Henry III of England's son Edward to sail to Acre in what is known as the Ninth Crusade. The Ninth Crusade saw several impressive victories for Edward over Baibars. Ultimately the Crusaders were forced to withdraw, since Edward had pressing concerns at home and felt unable to resolve the internal conflicts within the remnant Outremer territories. It is arguable that the Crusading spirit was nearly "extinct" by this period as well.^[2] It also foreshadowed the imminent collapse of the last remaining crusader strongholds along the Mediterranean coast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninth_Crusade

1270 AD - The Eighth Crusade was launched by Louis IX of France but largely petered out when Louis died shortly after reaching Tunis

The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX of France against the city of Tunis in 1270. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth and Sixth Crusades of Frederick II are counted as a single crusade. The Ninth Crusade is sometimes also counted as part of the Eighth. The crusade is considered a failure after Louis died shortly after arriving on the shores of Tunisia, with his disease-ridden army dispersing back to Europe shortly afterwards.^[1]

Background

Despite the failure of the Seventh Crusade, which ended in the capture of King Louis by the Mamluks, the King did not lose interest in crusading. He continued to send financial aid and military support to the settlements in Outremer from 1254 to 1266.^[2] While the "crusade" of the King's brother Charles of Anjou against the Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily occupied Papal attention for some years,^[3] the advance of Baibars in Syria during the early 1260s became increasingly alarming to Christendom. The War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice had drawn in the Crusader States and depleted their resources and manpower. The exhausted settlements were systematically overrun by the methodical campaigns of Baibars.^[4] By 1265, he had raided Galilee and destroyed the cathedral of Nazareth, captured Caesarea and Arsuf and temporarily took Haifa.^[5] In late 1266, Louis informed Pope Clement IV that he intended to go on crusade again.^[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighth_Crusade

1244 AD-Jerusalem was sacked again, instigating the Seventh Crusade

The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. His troops were defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the BahariyyaMamluks led by Faris ad-Din Aktai, Baibars al-Bunduqdari, Qutuz, Aybak and Qalawun and Louis was captured. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for his return.^[3][4][5]

Background

In 1244, the Khwarezmians, recently displaced by the advance of the Mongols, took Jerusalem on their way to ally with the Egyptian Mamluks. This returned Jerusalem to Muslim control, but the fall of Jerusalem was no longer an earth-shattering event to European Christians, who had seen the city pass from Christian to Muslim control numerous times in the past two centuries. This time, despite calls from the Pope, there was no popular enthusiasm for a new crusade. There were also many conflicts within Europe that kept its leaders from embarking on the Crusade.

Pope Innocent IV and Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor continued the papal-imperial struggle. Frederick had captured and imprisoned clerics on their way to the First Council of Lyon, and in 1245 he was formally deposed by Innocent IV. Pope Gregory IX had also earlier offered King Louis' brother, count Robert of Artois, the German throne, but Louis had refused. Thus, the Holy Roman Emperor was in no position to crusade. Béla IV of Hungary was rebuilding his kingdom from the ashes after the devastating Mongol invasion of 1241. Henry III of England was still struggling with Simon de Montfort and other problems in England. Henry and Louis were not on the best of terms, being engaged in the Capetian-Plantagenet struggle, and while Louis was away on crusade the English king signed a truce promising not to attack French lands. Louis IX had also invited King Haakon IV of Norway to crusade, sending the English chronicler Matthew Paris as an ambassador, but again was unsuccessful. The only king interested in beginning another crusade therefore was Louis IX, who declared his intent to go East in 1245. A much smaller force of Englishmen, led by William II Longespée, also took the cross.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Crusade

1229 AD-The Codex Gigas was completed by Herman the Recluse in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice near Chrudim

The Codex Gigas (English: Giant Book) is the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world, at 92 cm (36 in) tall.^[1] It is also known as the Devil's Bible because of a very unusual full-page portrait of the devil, and the legend surrounding its creation.

It was created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). It contains the complete Vulgate Bible as well as other popular works, all written in Latin. Between the Old and New Testaments are a selection of other popular medieval reference works: Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews and De bello iudaico, Isidore of Seville's encyclopedia Etymologiae, the chronicle of Cosmas of Prague,^[2] and medical works; these are an early version of the Ars medicinae compilation of treatises, and two books by Constantine the African.^[3]

Eventually finding its way to the imperial library of Rudolf II in Prague, the entire collection was taken as spoils of war by the Swedish in 1648 during the Thirty Years' War, and the manuscript is now preserved at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm, although it is no longer on display for the general public.^[1]

Very large illuminated bibles were a typical feature of Romanesque monastic book production,^[4] but even within this group the page-size of the Codex Gigas is exceptional.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Gigas

1228–1229 AD The Sixth Crusade won control of large areas of the Holy Land for Christian rulers, more through diplomacy than through fighting

The Sixth Crusade started in 1228 as an attempt to regain Jerusalem. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actual fighting. The diplomatic maneuvering of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, resulted in the Kingdom of Jerusalem regaining some control over Jerusalem for much of the ensuing fifteen years (1229–39, 1241–44)^[1] as well as over other areas of the Holy Land.

Frederick II and the Papacy

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, had involved himself broadly in the Fifth Crusade, sending troops from Germany, but he failed to accompany the army directly, despite the encouragement of Honorius III and later Gregory IX, as he needed to consolidate his position in Germany and Italy before embarking on a crusade. However, Frederick again promised to go on a crusade after his coronation as emperor in 1220 by Pope Honorius III.

In 1225 Frederick married Yolande of Jerusalem (also known as Isabella), daughter of John of Brienne (nominal ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem) and Maria of Montferrat. Frederick now had a claim to the truncated kingdom, and reason to attempt to restore it.^[2] In 1227, after Gregory IX became pope, Frederick and his army set sail from Brindisi, Italy, for Acre (then the capital of the truncated Kingdom of Jerusalem), but an epidemic forced Frederick to return to Italy. Gregory took this opportunity to excommunicate Frederick for breaking his crusader vow, though this was just an excuse, as Frederick had for years been trying to consolidate imperial power in Italy at the expense of the papacy.

Gregory stated that the reason for the excommunication was Frederick's reluctance to go on crusade, dating back to the Fifth Crusade. Frederick attempted to negotiate with the pope, but eventually decided to ignore him, and sailed to Syria in 1228 despite the excommunication, arriving at Acre in September.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Crusade

1222−1282 AD The life of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law and founder of Nichiren Buddhism.. Based at the Nichiren Shoshu Head Temple Taisekiji (Japan), this branch of Buddhism teaches the importance of chanting the mantra Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō

Nichiren (日蓮; 16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282), born as Zennichimaro (善日麿), was a Japanese Buddhist priest who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Nichiren is known for his sole devotion to the Lotus Sutra, asserting that it was Shakyamuni Buddha's ultimate teachings and was the exclusive method to attain enlightenment.^{[2][page needed][3][4]} Nichiren believed that the Lotus Sutra contained the essence of all of Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings related to the laws of causality, karma, without any distinction to enlightenment.^{[5][page needed][6][7][8][9][10][11]} His interpretation of the Lotus Sutra centers on the emphasis of its 16th chapter, The Life Span of the Thus Come One, where he asserts his revelation that the chanting of Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō is the superior practice of today's age (Mappō).

Nichiren further justifies this practice of chanting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō by attributing the natural and social calamities of his time to the inability of the Pure Land, Zen, Shingon, Ritsu, and Tendai schools to supernaturally protect Japan. Nichiren gained the attention of Japan's ruling Hōjō clan when his two Lotus Sutra-based predictions of foreign invasion and political strife were seemingly actualized by the Mongol invasions of Japanand an attempted coup within the Hōjō clan. The religious remonstration in which he made these two predictions, Risshō Ankoku Ron (立正安国論) (On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Security of the Land), is considered by Japanese historians to be a literary classic illustrating the apprehensions of that period.

While all Nichiren Buddhist schools regard him as a reincarnation of the Visistacaritra or Jōgyō (上行), the lineages from Nikko Shonin proclaim Nichiren as the "Original Buddha" from infinite aeons ago, addressing him the title of Daishonïn (Kanji: 大聖人, English: Great Sage) as well as the (本仏: Hombutsu) "True Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law" as taught Three Ages of Buddhism.^[12][13][14]

Today, Nichiren Buddhism includes traditional schools such as Nichiren Shōshū, the Nichiren Shū confederation of schools, and modern lay movements such Kenshokai, Shoshinkai, Soka Gakkai, Risshō Kōsei Kai, and Honmon Butsuryū Shū and various others each claiming their own interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. The fundamental practice shared by all of them is the chanting of Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō.^[11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichiren

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The Three Ages of Buddhism, also known as the Three Ages of the Dharma, (simplified Chinese: 三时; traditional Chinese: 三時; pinyin: Sān Shí) are three divisions of time following Buddha's passing in East Asian Buddhism. The Latter Day of the Law is the third and last of the Three Ages of Buddhism. Mappō or Mofa(Chinese: 末法; pinyin: Mò Fǎ, Japanese: Mappō), which is also translated as the Age of Dharma Decline, is the "degenerate" Third Age of Buddhism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Ages_of_Buddhism

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Nichiren Shōshū (日蓮正宗 English: Orthodox School of Nichiren) is a branch of Nichiren Buddhismbased on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren Daishonin (1222–1282).^{[citation needed]} Nichiren Shōshū claims Nichiren as its founder through his disciple Nikkō Shonin(1246–1333), the founder of the school's Head Temple Taiseki-ji, located at the base of Mount Fuji.^{[citation needed]} Nichiren Shōshū has adherents around the world, with the largest concentration in Japan,^{[citation needed]}. The Myohoji Temple located in Los Angeles, California serves as the organization's headquarters in the United States.^{[citation needed]} Its lay members are called the Hokkeko (法華講衆).^{[citation needed]}

The main object of worship and veneration by its believers is the Dai Gohonzon, presently enshrined in Hoando building located in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture while the official logo used is the round crane (Japanese: Tsuru-no-Maru).^{[citation needed]} Both its leadership and adherents ascribe a uniquely honorific title to Nichiren, as the Dai-Shonin (Great Teacher) while maintaining that the sole legitimate successor to both his ministry and legacy is Nikko Shonin alone and the successive high priests of Nichiren Shōshū.^{[citation needed]}

The current 68th high priest of the temple priesthood is Nichí—Nyo Shonin.^[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichiren_Sh%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB

1217 AD - 1221 AD - With the Fifth Crusade, Christian leaders again attempted (but failed) to recapture Jerusalem

The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was an attempt by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt.

Pope Innocent III and his successor Pope Honorius III organized crusading armies led by King Andrew II of Hungary and Leopold VI, Duke of Austria, and an attack against Jerusalem ultimately left the city in Muslim hands. Later in 1218, a German army led by Oliver of Cologne, and a mixed army of Dutch, Flemish and Frisian soldiers led by William I, Count of Holland joined the crusade. In order to attack Damietta in Egypt, they allied in Anatolia with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm which attacked the Ayyubids in Syria in an attempt to free the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts.

After occupying the port of Damietta, the Crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July 1221, but were turned back after their dwindling supplies led to a forced retreat. A nighttime attack by Sultan Al-Kamil resulted in a great number of crusader losses, and eventually in the surrender of the army. Al-Kamil agreed to an eight-year peace agreement with Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Crusade