Introduction
Before Christ
0-100
100-200
200-300
300-400
400-500
500-600
600-700
700-800
800-900
900-1000
1000-1100
1100-1200
1200-1300
1300-1400
1400-1500
1500-1600
1600-1700
1700-1800
1800-1900
1900-2000
2000-Present
Index
Bibliography
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1500 - 1600
Text History |
World History |
1501
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Michelangelo carves David.
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1503
Robert Estienne, also known plainly as Robert Stephens, is born in Paris. His life's work in print would eventually become one of two basis for the Textus Receptus. |
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1504
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Leonardo da Vinci paints the Mona Lisa.
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1508
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Michelangelo begins work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
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1509
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John Calvin is born in France.
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The watch is invented in Nuremberg, Germany.
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1512
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Michelangelo completes work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
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1515
The Fifth Lateran Council produces the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a document stating what literature was deemed unacceptable or ungodly. |
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1516
Erasmus publishes his New Testament which would soon be called the Majority Text (Textus Receptus by Bonaventura Elzevir in 1624). |
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The content was built from Byzantine text-type manuscripts that had been maintained through the rise and decline of the Roman Empire's history. To date, the majority text that he used was built from the largest group of Greek documents of the New Testament. What came into question eventually was the well-known pressure that Erasmus was under to complete this project before the CPB (1517), a competitor, was finished.
1517
The Complutensian Polyglot Bible is completed as the first side by side version of different translations encompassing the entire Old and New Testaments. |
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This project was financed by Emperor Maximillian and Pope Leo X in 1516, but was not officially made public until 1522. The CPB was published as a six-volume set in which the first four volumes included the Old Testament (Hebrew on the left, Latin Vulgate in the middle, Greek Septuagint on the right and a partial Aramaic text in the Pentateuch), the fifth volume included the New Testament (Greek on the left and Latin on the right), and the sixth volume contained Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek dictionaries and study aids. Upon completion of this project, the 16th century became the introduction and popular wave of demands for more and more complete Greek texts, whether authorized or unauthorized.
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Martin Luther posts his "95 Theses" on the door of the Castle Church door. So begins the Great English Reformation.
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1518
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Philip Melanchton joins Martin Luther in his teaching of the Reformation.
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1519
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Theodore Beza, the future theologian and scholar of the Reformation, is born in France.
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1520
Luther publishes The Appeal to the German Nobility, demanding that lay people be allowed to read the Bible for themselves. |
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1521
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Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Leo X.
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1522
Martin Luther publishes the German Bible as a legible translation for the common people. |
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The Luther Bible was to become, for no less cause than its location, a foundational work of writing in German literature and history. His view on the Hebrews became a ground-level base for an eventual Nazi Germany that would aim toward the eradication of the Jews.
1526
William Tyndale completes the first English edition of the New Testament. |
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Much of Tyndale's available information was limited and he was not approved by many within the church to do the work he was doing (resulting in much of his limited resources). As such, the Tyndale Bible would indeed be the first, but most certainly not the most accurate.
1530
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Philip Melanchton, the German leader of the Lutheran Revolution, writes the Augsburg Confession at the Diet of Augsburg.
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This confession became one of the most important documents of the Reformation and was requested by the Roman Emperor Charles V as a means to restore unity in the Holy Roman Empire.
1535
Coverdale Bible is published as the first complete English Bible. |
Sir Thomas More is executed for ceasing to believe in the Act of Succession (that the king had authority over the church).
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Interesting to note that More was executed for his heretical beliefs, yet he also criticized William Tyndale for allegedly twisting the words of Scripture in his English translation. William Tyndale would himself be executed the very next year (1536).
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City of Geneva declares itself to be a Protestant Republic.
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1536
John Calvin publishes his Institutes of the Christian Religion in Latin. |
William Tyndale is executed for teaching Lutheranism.
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1537
Matthew's Bible is published. |
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This particular text was, like the Great Bible (1538), building from Tyndale's work (1526).
1538
The Great Bible is published by Myles Coverdale. |
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Myles Coverdale produced the Great Bible by combining available Old Testament texts with Tyndale's New Testament in English. While it was considered an "authorized" version before the king, textual criticism rose quickly.
1539
Robert Estienne receives the distinguished title of "Printer of Greek to the King." This title credits his future works as "authorized" efforts and undertakings. |
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The Taverner's Bible is published as an update of Matthew's Bible. |
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1539-1544
Robert Estienne publishes the entire Hebrew Bible in 13 parts and four volumes (Authorized Publication). |
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1541
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John Calvin establishes the heirarchy of intellectual and spiritual leadership within the church. The authority series included Doctor of Divinity, Pastors, Deacons, and then Elders.
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1544-1546
Robert Estienne publishes the entire Hebrew Bible in 17 parts (Authorized Publication). |
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1546
Robert Estienne publishes his first volume of the entire Greek New Testament (Authorized Publication). Both this and his second volume (1549) are among the most polished Greek texts known. Together they are sometimes referred to as O Mirificam. |
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The Council of Trent meets and confirms the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (1515) as well as the Summa Theologiae. |
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The Summa was the most well-known of Thomas Aquinas' writings as it became the summation of all theological and Biblical doctrines deemed accurate at the time. It was not partial to the Catholic Church alone, though it did find support within the church.
1549
Robert Estienne publishes his second volume of the entire Greek New Testament (Authorized Publication). Both this and his first volume (1546) are among the most polished Greek texts known. Together they are sometimes referred to as O Mirificam. |
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In the first two volumes of Estienne's Biblical text, he makes mention of having only accomplished this work via the Complutensian Polyglot Bible and a series of available resources found in the king's library. His access and financial capacity for developing this text were granted through his title given in 1539. One of the debatable resources he used was the Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, which is a fifth or sixth century document placing Greek on the left and Latin on the right.
1550
Robert Estienne publishes his third volume of the entire Greek New Testament (Authorized Publication). This text is deemed to have incredible typographical skill and is often referred to as Editio Regia. His third volume included many marginal references to the Complutensian Polyglot. |
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1551
Robert Estienne publishes his fourth volume of the entire Greek New Testament (Authorized Publication). This text, while not as polished as the first three, becomes the first separation of verses by number. It also contained editions of Erasmus and the Latin Vulgate. |
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1553
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Michael Servetus is executed at the stake just outside of Geneva on the orders of John Calvin.
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Mary Tudor, queen of England, begins persecuting Protestants until 1558.
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1559
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Robert Estienne dies short of being able to produce a concordance for his verse-by-verse approach to the New Testament. His son Henry would eventually succeed in completing this task.
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1560
The Geneva Bible is introduced and published by William Whittingham. |
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Whittingham was married to John Calvin's sister and his connections to Calvin led many to deem the Geneva Bible as to bias in interpretation. Nevertheless, it was the Bible used by John Bunyan, William Shakespeare, and the pilgrim's of the Mayflower. Its use of vigorous language would cause it to be more popular among the layperson than the Bishop's Bible (1568). Some have even argued, at times, that the King James Bible (1611) is merely a similar revision to the Geneva Bible.
1564
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John Calvin dies and is succeeded by Theodore Beza.
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1565
Theodore Beza publishes his own Greek New Testament based on Estienne's fourth volume of 1551. Opting to do this on his own accord shows the Beza New Testament to be one of several "unauthorized" works. |
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Within Beza's Greek text, no more than 100 changes are made to Estienne's fourth volume, but for what reason they are changed at all is arguably unsure. His connection to Calvin and the firm belief in predestination made many somewhat wary of his translation that, unlike the neutrality of Estienne's printer-style intellectualism, would have the heavy weight of theological opinion. Amidst controversy of his influence on perception, most scholars credit Beza as having still added much to the clearer understanding of New Testament writing.
1568
The Bishop's Bible is published as an attempt to challenge the popularity of the Geneva Bible through the authority of Queen Elizabeth I. Its longevity would quickly fade away. |
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1572
Henry Estienne completes the Thesaurus linguae graecae (Greek Thesaurus) as a foundation which would eventually help establish Greek lexicography. His thesauraus appeared in a four-volume set. |
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre takes place as a civil war between Catholics and French Protestants.
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1576
Henry Estienne publishes his first Greek New Testament (Unauthorized Publication). |
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Though working in his father's authorized absence, Henry deems himself to have more authority than the king officially provides him. Thus, his works of 1576 and 1587 exist as "unauthorized" efforts.
1581
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James Ussher, future archbishop is born in Dublin, Ireland.
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1582
The Gregorian Calendar is introduced as a modification of the Julian Calendar (50 BC) by Pope Gregory XIII. This becomes the calendar in use by most cultures today. |
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1587
Henry Estienne publishes his second Greek New Testament (Unauthorized Publication). |
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1594
Henry Estienne completes the Concordantiae Graecae Novi Testamenti (New General Greek Concordance) as a complement to his father's work of 1551. |
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1596
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Shakespeare publishes Romeo and Juliet.
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