Annals of the Centuries

Annals of the Centuries

The purpose of these paragraphs is to provide a framework in our minds into which an item of history can be fitted, one paragraph per century.  The average pupil is quite capable of memorising these paragraphs.  Then, for example, if we hear that a certain thing happened in the Fifth Century AD, we can say, "Ah yes! The century of the Fall of the Roman Empire!"  Or, "Seventeenth Century!  Ah yes!  The century of the Scientific Revolution!"

These notes, then, are not intended as a comprehensive history book.  The key names and facts you will find here may be further investigated from other sources.  But a start will have been made by drawing attention to them here.

A Note on Dating.  

A good century to start with is the 6th Century BC. This was the century immediately before writing became widely established, and history becomes much less a case of scholarly conjecture. The picture becomes much more sharply focussed from this time on.

Sixth Century BC

600 – 501 BC

The Sixth Century BC was the age of the first philosophers of Ancient Greece.

The Greek philosophers were the first we know of who ever began to ask questions such as "How, and of what materials, is the World made?"  Thales of Miletus was the first to seek an answer to this that did not invoke magic or stories of gods, but tried to find what we would now call a "scientific" explanation. This work continued in Greece for centuries. 

Fifth Century BC 

500 - 401 BC

The Fifth Century BC was the age of the early philosophers of Ancient Greece, of the Buddha in India, and of Confucius and Lao tze in China. The Fifth Century was the age of Isaiah the prophet in the Holy Land.

Isaiah said: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel -

a name which means, God with us.

The Fifth Century BC was one of those rare times in history when a great awakening seemed to come over the whole world. The Fifth Century BC was the age of the first philosophers of Ancient Greece,  of the Buddha in India, and of Confucius and Lao tze in China. In their different ways, all these men tried to show their fellow-men how to be wise and good in this world which can be so hard and evil.

They tried to insist that they were only men, but Buddha was later worshipped like a God.

The Greek philosophers were the first we know of who ever began to ask questions such as "How, and of what

materials, is the World made?"

The Peloponnesian War occupied the final third of the Fifth Century BC. and was a struggle

between Athens and Sparta for the supremacy of the Greek World. Athens was the centre of the Arts

and High Culture: Sparta was a nation run as a military training-camp. The war drew off a very large portion

of the wealth and energy of both Athens and Sparta, and was an important factor in the eventual fall

of the Greek city-states to Alexander the Great. 

The Fifth Century was also the age of Isaiah the prophet in the Holy Land. God spoke directly to Isaiah,

as he was the prophet of God's Chosen People. Isaiah said to the King of Israel:

  Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel – a name which means, God with us.

The Fourth Century B.C. 

400 - 301 BC

The Fourth Century BC is counted as the Golden Age of Greece. During this century the Parthenon was built in Athens and the great philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle lived. In Ireland, the great fortress of Emhain Macha was built in Ulster.

The Fourth Century BC is counted as the Golden Age of Greece. During this century the Parthenon was built in Athens and the great philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle lived.

Socrates was filled with the love of the Truth. He taught by asking questions and encouraging others to think things out, to question their assumptions. He was put to death in Athens for questioning the gods and corrupting the youth: he was ordered to drink hemlock.

Plato, student of Socrates, taught that, beyond the physical world we can see, there must a world of perfection, where our ideas come from. His teachings are in the form of a collection of The Dialogues of Plato.

Aristotle, student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great, was one of the most brilliant minds who ever lived. Aristotle studied almost every subject possible at the time. In science, Aristotle studied anatomy, astronomy, economics, embryology, geography, geology, meteorology, physics, and zoology. In philosophy, Aristotle wrote on aesthetics, ethics, government, metaphysics, politics, psychology, rhetoric and theology. He also dealt with education, foreign customs, literature and poetry. His works amount to an encyclopedia of Greek knowledge. 

Alexander the Great brought the Greek world and all the lands east up to the borders of India into a huge Empire, combining Greek with Oriental culture: the Hellenistic world. After his early death his empire broke up, but the Hellenistic culture remained. 

Aristotle, Plato and Socrates are thought of as the most influential ancient Greek philosophers in Western thought. They transformed Pre-Socratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato and Aristotle form the core of Ancient philosophy.

At the beginning of the Fourth Century was the Sack of Rome by the Gauls, led by Brennus. They left Rome a shambles but failed to take the Capitoline Hill. Eventually they withdrew and the Romans rebuilt their city. 

In Ireland, the great fortress of Emhain Macha [Evin Macha or A-win Macha] was built in Ulster in the Fourth Century B.C., and the Kings descended from Milidh [Milesius] ruled there for seven hundred years. We have detailed records of the Irish Kings from this time on.

The Third Century B.C. 

300 - 201 BC

The Third Century B.C. saw the First and Second Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage.

In 264 BC was the First Punic War between Rome and the powerful Phoenician colony of Carthage, in North Africa. Carthage had a huge harbour and had been a naval power for centuries. Rome, at the beginning of the war, had not a single warship. The Romans found a wrecked Carthaginian ship and, after studying how it was made, built a fleet of one hundred and twenty ships in just sixty days. Although the Carthaginians were far more skilled as sailors, the Romans refused to give in. In the end the Carthiginians had to ask for peace terms. 

In 218 BC was the Second Punic War. The Carthaginian general Hannibal crossed the Alps with a huge army including war-trained elephants. Other towns that the army passed through joined Hannibal, believing that Carthage must win. Thus the army grew and grew. The Romans were hopelessly outnumbered, and at first lost great numbers of men. But they refused to admit defeat, and after years of bitter fighting they began to attack enemy territory. Some say that the rulers of Carthage became so sure of victory that they did not send enough supplies to Hannibal. They could not believe that the Romans would fight on, and even attack, when they had obviously lost. The Romans drew Hannibal away from Rome while constantly raiding his army. His army looted and burned the rich Italian fields. Meanwhile the Romans sent armies to gain territory in Spain and then Africa. Eventually Hannibal had to be recalled to defend Carthage itself. For a second time, Carthage was forced to accept peace terms which left Rome much stronger than Carthage.

The Second Century B.C. 

200-101 BC

In the middle of The Second Century B.C. was the third and last Punic War, in which the Romans destroyed Carthage utterly.

In the middle of the Second Century BC was the third and last Punic War, in which the Romans destroyed Carthage utterly. The Romans believed in little Household Gods that stood by the hearth; the children each night would offer a little of their supper to the household gods. They utterly hated Carthage, that made the children themselves the supper of their god. One of the bravest of the Romans, and the most concerned that Rome should not lose her simple virtues, was Cato. Cato insisted again and again: Delenda est Carthago – Carthage must be wiped from the face of the earth. After a bitter siege the Romans burned the city to ashes and then sowed the fields with poisonous salt so that nothing would ever grow there again. Archaeologists have found thousands of burned skeletons of children in the remains of underground furnaces. 

Because the Romans won the Punic Wars, the Apostles found a pagan religion which was ready to hear the Truth about God. The pagans of the Roman Empire were striving after goodness, but did not know where it could be found. At least their false religion was a human one, with feasts and holidays. The religion of Carthage was more like worshipping a devil as their God. The other cities respected Rome for her heroism, and accepted her as ruler of the world, partly because of the day when she had stood all alone against a seemingly all-powerful and devilish foe.

The First Century B.C. 

100 -1 BC

From 70 BC to 14 AD is counted as the Golden Age of Pagan Rome. It was the time of Julius Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Horace, Ovid and Virgil.

The first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, came to power in 31 BC.

From 70 BC to 14 AD is counted as the Golden Age of Pagan Rome. It was the time of Julius Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Horace, Ovid and Virgil. 

Julius Caesar, one of the most gifted men ever to have lived, brought Gaul into the Roman Empire. But in the struggles for power, Caesar and Pompey waged a damaging civil war. Julius Caesar was murdered during a session of the Senate on the Ides of March ­ 15th March ­ 44BC. When he saw his great companion Brutus amongst the assassins, he said, "Et tu, Brute?" "You too, Brutus? Then die, Caesar!" [Interestingly, his actual words were in Greek, which was the Prestige Language of the Roman elite:  "Kai su, huios?"  "You too, son?"] The conspirators were afraid that Caesar's popularity and ambition would lead him to become another tyrant, but his murder only led to more civil war and disorder. 

Cicero introduced Greek philosophy to the Romans, and invented many new Latin words and expressions to translate the thought of the more advanced Greek civilisation. His speeches and writings created the standard for Classical Latin that has been followed ever since. Cicero rejected Plato's theory of Ideas in favour of a form of Stoicism. It appealed to the Romans because it laid emphasis on controlling one's emotions and willpower, an attitude that agreed with ancient Roman ideals. Cicero was very active in the politics of the First Century BC, was an ardent supporter of the ideal of the Roman Republic, and was eventually murdered by his enemies. 

Livy the historian wrote to inspire his countrymen by the examples of the heroes of old. 

Horace the poet praised the simple virtues of loyalty to family and fatherland, the rural life, and piety to the gods. 

Ovid was the Love Poet. 

Virgil wrote the Aeneid, the beautiful Latin epic of the flight of Aeneas, Prince of Troy, after the Trojan War. The Romans believed that the Latin race was descended from the Trojans, who had fled the burning city and eventually founded the city of Rome. Virgil wrote that the gods had chosen the Romans to rule and guard the world: 'to protect the humble, and to war down the proud'. 

Virgil died when Jesus was still a boy in Nazareth, but Virgil's good and wise teaching helped prepare the Roman people to receive the Gospel when the first Christians came.

The first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus (originally named Octavian), came to power after The Battle of Actium in 31 BC, defeating Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He brought order to the Roman Empire after a whole century of civil wars. The Gates of the Temple of Janus were ceremonially closed, and "The Peace of Augustus" was proclaimed. A great ceremony was held, in which the Roman people vowed to build the Roman world anew on the ancient Roman virtues.

The World was now ready for the Saviour.

The First Century 

1-100 AD

Jesus was born under "The Peace of Augustus". The World was more secure and well-ordered than ever before in history. However, the Roman Empire was pagan. Later in the First Century, There were some very bad and stupid Emperors.

Augustus was followed by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

Tiberius was famous for murdering more and more people he suspected of plotting against him.

Caligula may have become insane: he squandered the wealth of the Empire and committed outrageous crimes.

Claudius restored order, and successfully brought Britain into the Empire. 

Nero played the lyre while Rome burned; "Nero fiddled while Rome burned". Many believed that he had actually ordered the burning of Rome, but this is not certain. Later he blamed the Christians and had them fed to the lions in the arena: "Christiáni ad leontes! Christians to the lions!" Yet the holy deaths of the innocent Christians, who sang hymns in the arena itself, converted many, many Romans. ‘These Christians - see how they love one another!’

 During the reign of Nero, both S.Peter & S.Paul were martyred in Rome .  By tradition, S.Paul was beheaded; S.Peter was crucified upside down. Nero fled a revolt and committed suicide to avoid capture. 

In 69AD was a brief civil war, The Year of the Four Emperors, before order was restored.

During the rest of the century, Emperor Vespasian helped Hispania (Spain and Portugal) develop many towns and become a fully civilised part of the expanding Empire; 

Titus led the destruction of Jerusalem and the Sack of the Temple in 70AD, later following Vespasian as Emperor; Domitian ruled well at first but later became cruel and unpredictable.

In Ireland , Medb [Maeve] was Queen of Connacht and Cú Chulainn was the champion of Ulster, probably at the very end of the First Century.

A problem for the developing Roman Empire was that its own success  brought unimaginable wealth, yet  the Roman society had no traditions or religious guidance to tell them  what to do with it.  The Roman Orgies were a  disgrace, yet they were almost inevitable given human nature.

Augustus could fairly be said to have laid the basis for peace and stability for centuries to come. Yet he did not deal with the problem of who was to succeed the emperor when he died, probably because of the hatred of the Romans for the idea of a king. This fatal weakness led to endless trouble, and without doubt was important in bringing the Empire in the West to its end.

The Second Century 

101-200 AD

During the Second Century the "Five Good Emperors" in a row made the Empire seem very, very secure and strong. Later the Empire was gravely weakened by rivalries over who would be Emperor. The Church spread, but quietly, and there was always the threat of persecution.

The "Five Good Emperors", Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, presided over the period of greatest material prosperity of Rome and the Empire. The average standard of living throughout Europe was probably higher than at any future time until at least the Eighteenth Century, with well-planned towns, roads and farms, and a strong army to repel invaders and maintain order. Despite the increase in material standards, however, learning and the Arts were already declining from the days of the Golden Age. But there was still a pride in the great civilisation that was being built, and many prosperous citizens would devote their time and wealth to improving their own city. 

Slavery was taken for granted. 

The Church was becoming a recognised and respected institution, with a bishop and priests in every major town. Scrolls of the Old Testament, and collections of the Gospels and Epistles, were treasured, but details of Worship, including the Mass and the Sacraments, were strictly forbidden to be written down or revealed to the pagans - the Disciplina Arcani or Discipline of the Secret. Many false Gospels were in circulation. Many people fell into the Gnostic heresies , believing that there were special secrets revealed only to the chosen few. Others believed in false prophets who claimed visions and revelations. The Church rejected whatever had not been handed down from the Apostles, and cast out those who would not abandon these errors. She was feared by the pagans, who recognised Her discipline, independence and growing strength. Thus the Emperors who were most respected for their rule were also the very ones to attempt to stamp out the Church.

The Third Century

201-300 AD

In the middle of the Third Century the Empire began to break up, until the Emperors Aurelian and Diocletian strengthened the Empire again. However, these Emperors were still pagans and they persecuted the Christians. They prevented the Empire from collapsing, but they did this by greatly restricting personal freedom. In Ireland , the great and good High King Cormac Mac Airt ruled from Tara.

In the 40 years from 235 to 275 - The Crisis of the Third Century - there were more than 35 rulers of Rome, until Aurelian and Diocletian, two of Rome's greatest emperors, strengthened the Empire again.

In 235 the Roman legions were defeated in a campaign against Persia , and the emperor Alexander Severus was murdered by his soldiers. Popular generals, one after the other, were proclaimed Emperor by their troops - the Barrack Room Emperors - only to be killed in battle or murdered by a rival. These troubles led to neglect of the frontiers and frequent raids by the barbarian tribes, including the Goths, Vandals and Alamanni, and also from the Empire of Persia. At the height of the crisis, the major Roman provinces of Gaul, Britain and Hispania all broke off to form the so-called Gallic Empire, and two years later, the eastern provinces of Syria, Palestine and Egypt broke away as the Palmyrene Empire. This could have ended Roman Rule over the civilised world. The turning point of the crisis came in 268 when an invasion by a vast horde of Goths was beaten back at the Battle of Naissus. Aurelian, who had commanded the cavalry at this battle, became emperor two years later, and defeated the rebellious tribes one by one. By the end of his five-year reign the Roman Empire was re-united and the frontier troops were re-established. He decided, however, to abandon the north-eastern province of Dacia, which later became the Kingdom of Romania. The Roman Senate awarded Aurelian the title of Restitutor Orbis - 'Restorer of the World'. More than a century would pass before Rome would again lose the upper hand on its enemies.

Diocletian re-organised every detail of Roman life, preventing the Empire from collapsing, but through greatly restricting personal freedom. Taxation was greatly increased. By law a son was made to follow the same trade as his father. This ensured the supply of skilled tradesmen, but killed the old spirit of the Empire. From free citizens under the Law of Rome, willingly building the great civilisation, men became mere slaves of the State. Thus the great adventure was becoming an ever more intolerable burden. These Emperors, being still pagans, persecuted the Church. 

In Ireland , the great and good High King Cormac Mac Airt ruled from Tara. He was aided by the warrior-band of the Fenians , led by Fionn Mac Cumhaill. It is said that he knew that the True God would soon be sending His Apostle to Ireland, and for this he was hated and cursed by the druids. He brought peace and order to his Kingdom such as perhaps was never seen before, and which passed into legend. In his day, ‘It was difficult to walk through the forests, because of the quantity of fruit on the trees; and it was difficult to walk through the fields, because of the quantity of the crops’. It is said that the reason the cow gives such a great sigh when she lies down, is out of regret for the long-lost days of Cormac Mac Airt.

The Fourth Century  

301-400 AD

In the Fourth Century, Christianity became the official religion of the Empire, but too late to prevent its collapse.

In 313 the Emperor Constantine became a Christian. He saw in a dream the Sign of the Cross in the sky, with the words "Under this Sign you will conquer". He abolished crucifixion and the killing in the arena. Many pagan temples were converted to Catholic churches.

Pope Sylvester was given a large sum of money by Constantine. Now the Church could emerge from the shadows. The Council of Nicaea , the first General council since the time of the apostles, met and defined the Nicene Creed. All the authorised books of the Bible were bound into one codex for the first time, and the list of 'canonical' books itself was defined. The very first written books containing the Mass and the Sacraments were now produced, although the Disciplina Arcani (by which the rituals themselves were kept secret) continued in force for centuries. Already, literacy was declining, and the Church trained suitable persons to read and write and also to manufacture books and ink. Older books were being copied from the fragile papyrus onto vellum and parchment, and thus preserved.

Constantine also built a new city named Constantinople . It was in a very secure location far to the East.

In the second half of the Fourth Century lived the Three Great Fathers of the Latin Church: S. Jerome, S. Augustine of Hippo and S. Ambrose. 

Saint Jerome settled in Bethlehem and taught himself the Hebrew and Greek languages so that he could make an accurate translation of the Bible into Latin. His version, called the Vulgate , has been adopted ever since as the basic Catholic Bible. He used the best and the earliest manuscripts available to make sure he had the true words of the Sacred Scripture. 

Saint Ambrose of Milan was a wonderful bishop in an age when many of the rich and great were heretics or still pagan. He held a great debate with the pagans in front of the Emperor, and won the day. He also said, "The Emperor is in the Church; he is not over the Church". The Emperor later said "I know of no one except Ambrose who deserves the name of Bishop".

Saint Augustine lived in Hippo, in Northwest Africa. He wrote beautiful books on the things of God, including his own life story, which have been read in every later age. He was very sorry for the sins of his early youth, and wrote "Late have I loved Thee, O Lord".

The Fourth Century was the century of the Arian Crisis. 

The Arians tried to deal with the Mysteries of the Faith by explaining them away. They taught that Jesus Christ was a creation of God the Father. He was the most excellent of the creations of the Father, but He was not God Himself. 

The Arian Heresy gained great power from the fact that the Roman Ruling class, and the hugely powerful Roman Army, went over to the Arian side. Many barbarian tribes, on entering Roman territory, adopted Arianism instead of Roman Catholicism. Even Pope Liberius signed a vague document that could be used by the Arians to support their cause. Only Bishop Athanasius stood absolutely firm. It was "Athanasius contra mundum" — Athanasius against the World. Athanasius told the Faithful. "They have the churches, but we have the Faith. Which is the more important?"

The Catholics fled into the desert, and Athanasius himself was excommunicated four times, once with the authority of Pope Liberius himself, "to preserve unity".

After a fight that lasted beyond a lifetime, the Catholic Faith was re-asserted when the support of the Roman Ruling Class melted away.

The Catholic Faith won out in the end. Yet it was said that, after the Arian Crisis, the Catholic Church never again regained Her Springtime Innocence.

The Fifth Century 

401-500 AD

The Fifth Century saw the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

The Fifth Century was a terrible century for the Roman Empire.

It was the Century wherein the Central power of Rome dissolved and faded away. Rome itself, once the Centre of the World, became a place where people no longer wanted to live - the difficulties of ever-higher taxes yet falling standards became too much to bear. The remaining wealthy and powerful people quietly left for their country estates, never to return. The former Roman Provinces became independent Kingdoms; the local Army Chief, originally a Roman Officer, came to be the ruler of his district with no reference to Rome - a provincial king. The actual change went almost un-noticed for most people. Life in the villa (or farm) went on as before. But there was no more demand for taxes from Rome, no help from Roman armies, and the villa, once a small part of a vast empire, became a town dependent on its own resources.

Yet men of culture looked with despair at the remorseless decay of learning and civilisation. Boethius wrote “The Consolation of Philosophy”, compressing into a single book what he thought was most vital to be preserved of all the vast learning of Antiquity. His book was indeed used as almost the only available textbook for many centuries.

The fifth Century saw the Barbarian Invasions. The influx had been continuing for centuries. It was not a question of all-out attacks by huge armies (which has been claimed by later historians hostile to Rome) – after the First Century A.D. the highly-disciplined Roman legions never lost a major battle: but the Roman Army came to be recruited more and more from semi-Romanised barbarians with no strong links of loyalty or culture to Rome, weakening an already weakened Empire. The original ideal of the Legions, that they were bearers of Roman culture as well as military agents, was fading away.  The non-Roman recruits were called Auxiliaries. The barbarian tribes included the Goths, (the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths), the Lombards, the Franks, and the Vandals. Later in the Fifth Century came the Huns.

The actual number of the barbarians was only small, and they actually travelled down the Roman Roads. It never occurred to most of them that they were threatening the Empire itself. Many tribes simply wanted to gain the benefits of the Empire; but others were cruel and destructive. The Roman armies were always able, because of their discipline and organisation, to fight off a full-scale attack; but the steady influx of barbarians imposed burdens on the Roman government that helped to bring it to an end.

Towards the end, the only leader who remained to defend Rome was the Pope himself.

Twice, the Pope went to meet the leader of an attacking army at the gates of Rome: Alaric the Visigoth and Atilla the Hun. 

Alaric was a Roman Officer of a legion of Gothic Auxiliaries who was in mutiny because he wanted more promotion within the Empire [His attack was not, as some claim, that of a foreign barbarian horde attacking the Empire as such].  He was persuaded by the Pope to limit his sack of Rome to the traditional three days.  Nonetheless, his invasion of Rome was like an earthquake to all the known world. The Eternal City had actually fallen to an invader. He was given permission to settle with his troops in Spain, which now became a Visigothic kingdom, but the damage had been done. The prestige of Rome never recovered from the shock.

Atilla was a brilliant leader who established his rule over a vast area of central Europe, but when he died his empire disintegrated immediately. 

At the beginning of the Fifth Century The Roman Legions left Britain, expecting to return, but they never did. The pagan Saxons came in small numbers but were very fierce. The native Britons were taken over by the Saxon invaders, losing their language and most of their traditions. The culture of the Britons survived in the West and North of the island of Logres (their name for Britain), and many fled to the Continent, where they mingled with other Celtic tribes to form the land of Brittany.

King Arthur ruled in Logres early in the Fifth Century. He led the Catholic Britons and Romans against the heathen invading Saxons. His grave was despoiled by the Protestants in the Sixteenth Century. 

The last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the new barbarian King in 476 AD. This date was taken to mark the end of the Roman Empire in the West: twelve hundred and twenty-eight years after the Founding of the City of Rome. The ancient pagan prophecy of the Twelve Eagles was fulfilled: that Rome would endure for twelve centuries.

In the East, Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire would endure for many centuries to come.

Yet just as the Roman world was collapsing, a new and amazingly strong Catholic civilization was being built in faraway Ireland.

Early in the Fifth Century, Saint Patrick converted the pagan Irish to the Catholic Faith. Never before or since has a whole nation taken to the Faith so readily and so peacefully. During the forty days of the Lenten season of 441 S.Patrick remained in prayer and fasting at the summit of Croagh Patrick [Cruach Pádraig], where he was grievously tormented by demons, who appeared to him as black, fierce birds; but at the end of his vigil he was wonderfully consoled. He was shown a vision of all the Irish souls, shown to him in the form of a vast flock of beautiful white birds, that he would save until the End of Time. He interceded for the Irish Race and, through his merits, all the men of Ireland were personally consecrated to God until the End of the World. He was granted also this request: That the Saxon will never have dominion over Ireland, by force or guile, as long as I remain in Heaven.  S. Patrick died on the 17th of March, 461, and is buried at Downpatrick.

King Clovis of the Franks (or French) became a Catholic at the end of the Fifth Century. His band of barbarian-speaking warriors established control over much of the Roman Province of Gaul, soon adopting a version of the Latin Language and the Roman Law, and mingling with the native population, but giving their name to the new kingdom of France. His ties with Rome helped greatly to strengthen his kingdom, while many other small Arian kingdoms melted away.

The Sixth Century  

501-600 AD 

The Sixth Century saw the beginning of the Golden Age of Ireland and the Dark Ages of Europe. 

In the Fifth and Sixth Centuries Christianity brought about a wonderful change in Ireland. For centuries it was to be a land of prayer and learning, the only such place left in the known world. So numerous were its holy men and women, and so great its learning, that it became known all over Europe as The Land of Saints and Scholars.

In the Sixth Century Saint Brigid, ‘The Mary of the Gael’, founded a Monastery in Kildare which soon grew into the largest city in Ireland; a city of monks, nuns and scholars, famous through all Ireland for its hospitality, and soon famous in other countries as well.

The Irish, not granted the gift of the Red Martyrdom [shedding their blood for Christ] in Ireland, chose instead the Green Martyrdom [hermit’s huts in remote places in Ireland] and later the White Martyrdom, [lifelong exile from Ireland while they brought the Gospel back to the ruined lands of Europe].

France was becoming a strong Catholic nation. The Irish monks were very important in establishing monasteries in France and elsewhere, which were soon attracting many vocations from the local people. 

In Britain, the Angles and Saxons had established their culture in the central part of the island. The descendants of the native Romano-British had forgotten their Celtic past and the new Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had no intercourse with the Britons in the faraway mountains, calling them ‘The Welsh’ - that is, the Foreigners. The name of Logres was forgotten in the south and east, and the invaders re-named their new country Angle-land or England. The Welsh remained Catholic, the Angles and Saxons still worshipped their pagan gods.

In Spain, the Visigothic King left the Arian heresy and became a Catholic due to the influence of his wife, who died at the age of eighteen.

In Constantinople, many of the arts and traditions of the old Empire were maintained.

In the first part of the Sixth Century, St Benedict founded the first monastery, where his monks spent their day in prayer, farm work and the copying of precious manuscripts. St Benedict is the Patron Saint of Europe.

 The Benedictine monasteries soon became almost the only settled communities left in mainland Europe, and without them it is likely that the civilisation of Ancient Greece and Rome would have vanished without trace. The communities founded in Europe by the Irish missionaries soon also adopted the Benedictine Rule.

Pope Saint Gregory the Great reigned at the end of the Sixth century and the beginning of the Seventh. He was a wise ruler of Rome when there was no other leader. He re-organised the singing of the Liturgy, which perhaps had nearly died out. The Latin plainchant is to this day called Gregorian Chant in his honour. He sent St Augustine of Canterbury to convert the Angles, saying of some slave-boys "They are not Angles but Angels." 

The Seventh Century 

601-700 AD

In the Seventh Century the Golden Age of Ireland gathered strength and splendor, the Dark Ages of Europe continued with a humble but sufficient way  of life  for the common folk, and the new Judaeo-Christian heresy of Islam burst most unexpectedly from the southern desert lands.

The story of the Seventh Century in Europe is the story of the nadir [lowest point] of its decline into barbarism. This condition lasted for two hundred years.

In those days men sat around bonfires on the stone floors of ruined Roman palaces, roasting and eating cats and dogs.

During the Seventh Century in Ireland, however, a beautiful Catholic civilisation was flourishing. Irish missionaries continued to travel through Europe, preaching the Faith, teaching the people, and founding new monasteries.

And now, at this dark moment, the new religion of Islam burst from the remote deserts of Arabia. The Moslems were told they would go straight to Heaven if they died in battle against the infidel (meaning the non-Moslems). 

In the Seventh Century Constantinople was struggling fiercely for its life against savage and bitter enemies.

The Eighth Century 

701-800 AD

The Eighth Century saw the pinnacle of the Golden Age of Ireland. 

It ended with the rise of Charlemaine, one of the greatest kings that ever lived.

During the early Eighth Century the Moslems made great conquests. The Latin West was now separated from the Greek East by this fierce and bitter enemy.

In the late Eighth Century appeared a great King of the Franks, one of the greatest kings of all time, called Charles the Great or Charlemagne. He extended his kingdom over nearly all of Western Europe and began a serious revival of learning, religion and civilisation. This period is called The Carolingian Renaissance (or re-birth). Charlemagne searched throughout his realm for men of learning - only a dozen or so were left - and he sent also to Ireland for teachers. He brought them to his court so that they would be able to support each other and begin a re-birth of learning.

The Ninth Century 

801-900 AD

The Ninth Century saw the Viking onslaught upon a Europe that had so recently begun to reclaim a settled and civilised way of life.

In Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Russia became Catholic..

On Christmas Day of the year 800, in Rome, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor by the Pope in Rome. This was meant to be the beginning of a new, Christian Roman Empire, which for many centuries was called the Holy Roman Empire. However, his sons soon quarrelled and divided the Empire, undoing much of the good work he had done.

During the Ninth Century yet another barbarian people attacked the countries of Europe: the Northmen or Vikings. They did tremendous damage everywhere, and ended the Golden Age of Ireland.

In England, King Alfred the Great reigned in the Ninth Century. He checked the advances of the Danish Vikings, who settled in the northeast of England and became Catholic. The Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Danes now began to merge into one English nation.

The late Ninth and early Tenth Centuries saw the Papacy at its lowest spiritual ebb. The Popes were no different in their ways from the other landowners. They did not teach heresy, but they made no attempt to live saintly lives. Most Catholics simply ignored them. Rome was far away and they must solve their problems without Rome’s help.

 In the Ninth Century, Bulgaria and Russia became Catholic. Saint Cyril invented a special alphabet for their language so that it could be written down, to this day called the Cyrillic Alphabet.

The Tenth Century 

901-1000 AD

In the Tenth Century the Holy Roman Empire was re-established.   

Poland and Denmark were converted  to the Catholic Faith.

The Magyars invaded central Europe, adopted the Catholic Faith, and settled down as the Kingdom of Hungary.

During the tenth century the Feudal System began to develop in Europe, as a defence against the barbarians. A group of farmers would agree to work the lands of a great warrior in return for his protection. They would also go into battle under his orders. This warrior would, in turn, pledge his loyalty to a still more powerful nobleman. The warriors were called knights or barons.

 This system had grown naturally over many centuries, but it was in the tenth century that people began to recognise it as a formal code to be followed. 

In Ireland and Scotland the clan system filled the same need. The members of a clan were all related, and they would choose a leader as clan chief. Smaller clans would pledge loyalty to larger ones in return for their protection. 

In Ireland during the Tenth Century, the Viking settlements at Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, and elsewhere, were developing into prosperous towns, and the Vikings were mingling with the native Irish, although new Northmen were constantly arriving by sea.

In the middle of the Tenth Century the Pope crowned Otto the Great as Holy Roman Emperor. The re-established empire would now last for another 850 years, until the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. But the Holy Roman Empire had a serious flaw. The Emperor had to rule both Germany and, beyond the Alps, Italy. These two lands had very little in common, and the Emperors would find much of their time occupied simply keeping hold of their territory. Wherever the Emperor was, the other half of his empire would be in danger of breaking away.

In the late tenth Century the fierce Magyars [pronounced 'Madjars'] invaded from the East. The Europeans thought the Huns had come back. Their advance was halted by the army of Otto I at the Battle of Lechfeld. The Magyars settled in the land now called Hungary.

In the Tenth Century, Poland and Denmark became Catholic.

The Eleventh Century 

1001-1100 AD

The middle of the Eleventh Century is reckoned as the dawn of the High Middle Ages.

In the early Eleventh Century, Norway became Catholic.

The life of the High Middle Ages shows a real joy in living,  and a rock-solid belief in God and the Church He left behind to carry on His work.

In the year 1000 the leader of the Magyars was crowned by the Pope as King Stephen the First of Hungary. The Magyars, called Hungarians to this day by foreigners, settled down quickly as a strong Catholic nation. 

In the year 1002 Brian Ború was crowned High King of Ireland. Ireland never recovered her place as the leader of European civilisation, but Brian Ború did much to repair the damage done to Ireland by the Norsemen, and was a good, wise and powerful King, devoted to the Church. In 1014 he led his people against the huge Viking invasion at the Battle of Clontarf, which was a complete victory for the Irish - except that, tragically, he and his heirs were killed in the battle. The Irish clans failed to agree on a new High King, and this greatly weakened the country. Angall, one of his noblemen, fought so valiantly for Brian Ború at Clontarf that he was given the name and title of Fergal, ‘man of valour’. He is the ancestor of the O’Farrell clan. He built a great fortress in his lands at Annaly, re-named Longphort Uí Fhearghail - the O’Farrell’s Fortress - modern County Longford.

In the early Eleventh Century, Norway became Catholic.

The four hundred years from the Mid - Eleventh to the Mid - Fifteenth Centuries are often known as

‘The High Middle Ages’ 

i.e. 1050 - 1450.

It is from about 1050 onwards that mainland Europe began to advance rapidly towards building an enduring Catholic Civilisation. Before that, life for most people was a severe struggle for survival in which the bare necessities of life were the main preoccupation. The life of the High Middle Ages shows a real joy in living, and a rock-solid belief in God and the Church He left behind to carry on His work.

The dominant figure in the Eleventh Century was Pope Saint Gregory VII. He fought hard and successfully against two great evils that were greatly weakening the Church:- Simony (the buying and selling of holy things, including the title of bishop or abbot) and the widespread ignoring of priestly celibacy (of the ban on priests marrying), especially in Germany. Both of these practices were encouraged by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. Henry declared the Pope deposed, and threatened the bishops under his control. The Pope excommunicated Emperor Henry, and released his subjects from their allegiance to him. His subjects rebelled, and Henry was forced to travel to meet the Pope, kneeling for three days in the snow on the mountain-top and begging pardon before the Pope forgave him.

The Greek Schism happened in the reign of Pope St Gregory VII. He had tried to heal a growing rift between Rome and the Church in the Byzantine Empire, sending two cardinals to mediate, but talks broke down, the cardinals excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople and he excommunicated the pope. The Greek schism has lasted to the present day.

The Battle of Hastings was in the Mid-eleventh Century, in 1066. Duke William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) beat the Saxon army on Senlac Field, 6 miles from Hastings. He was crowned King of England and very soon controlled the whole country, as well as owning a large part of France. The Normans and Saxons eventually became mingled and formed the English nation, while the French lands were later lost to the English Crown.

At the end of the Eleventh Century Pope Blessed Urban II preached the First Crusade to free the Holy Land from the Moslems. All soldiers taking part were granted a plenary indulgence, provided they were in a State of Grace. The original request for help had come from the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople, and the Pope had hoped that the Crusade would bring the Greek Church back to friendship with Rome and heal the Schism, but this did not happen. The Crusaders took Jerusalem on 15 July 1099.

The Twelfth Century 

1101-1200 AD

During the Twelfth Century, a truly Catholic Social Order  founded on the Rock of Christ was built throughout Europe  as never before.

Gothic Architecture, with the Gothic Arch, developed in the Twelfth Century.

The dominant figure of the Twelfth Century was St Bernard of Clairvaux. He founded a new order of monks, the Cistertians, who soon became famous for their holiness.

The Norman Invasion of Ireland began in the late twelfth Century, when Norman knights from Wales were invited into County Wexford by Diarmaid Mac Murchú, King of Leinster.

The High King of Ireland was weak, while the Norman King of England and much of France, Henry II was strong. Diarmaid Mac Murchú had opposed the High King and had been banished by his own people. He decided to appeal to Henry II for help, promising future loyalty to Henry instead of to the High King of Ireland. Henry II sent envoys to persuade the Pope that the Church was in a poor state in Ireland, and that he would use his power to reform it. He knew that the Popes condemned any King who made war on his neighbours just for the sake of more power. A band of Normans landed at Bannow Bay, Co. Wexford, in 1169.

Saint Thomas of Canterbury lived in the twelfth century. He was murdered on the steps of the altar of Canterbury Cathedral by the soldiers of Henry II of England. The King later did public penance for this deed. The tomb of S. Thomas became a famous place of pilgrimage, and many miracles occurred there.

The Thirteenth Century 

1201-1300 AD

The Thirteenth Century was perhaps the happiest of all Centuries for Christendom.  It was the age  of knights in shining armour, of wandering minstrels, of High days and holidays.  Yet there was a series of mortal attacks on Christendom from the Mongols, the Moslems and the Albigensians.

The Thirteenth Century was perhaps the happiest of all Centuries for Christendom. It was the age of knights in shining armour, of wandering minstrels, of High days and holidays. A society had been built which, although imperfect, had the serious intention of preparing men for Heaven. It was the age of 

Saint Dominic, who spread the devotion of the Rosary as a safeguard of the Faith; of 

Saint Francis of Assisi, one of the most lovable and poetic of saints,who taught the love of ‘Lady Poverty’; of 

Saint Thomas Aquinas, who wrote the Summa Theologica, counted as the second most important book after the Bible, explaining every detail of the Faith, and answering all objections.

All educated men throughout Christendom could speak Latin, and all kings shared the same Faith, acknowledging the Kingship of Christ and the spiritual leadership of the Pope. 

Richard the Lionheart, King of England, was a leader of the Third Crusade which achieved a truce that allowed Christian pilgrims the right to enter Jerusalem.

On 13 April, 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders sacked the Great city of Constantinople, looting and burning. Simon de Montfort refused to take part in this attack against their supposed allies and returned to France. The Pope excommunicated those who had taken part. The Sack of Constantinople ended any possibility of healing the quarrel between Constantinople and Rome.

Eastern Europe was over-run by the pagan nomadic Mongols, who halted the development of civilisation in Russia for centuries.

In the South of France, the Albigensian Heresy took root.  It was seen as a mortal attack on the fabric of Society.  Members of the sect were free to indulge in any vice, marriage was condemned, and suicide was encouraged.  Yet its leaders were often seen to be living more ordered and praiseworthy lives than many Catholic prelates, who were becoming rich and worldly.  The attempt to stamp out the  heresy by the sword was unsuccessful.  It was S. Dominic, by his inspired preaching and especially by his promoting of the Holy rosary, who won the souls of the Albigensians back to the Catholic Faith.

During the course of the Thirteenth Century, the descendants of the Normans in Ireland took on Irish customs and language, and soon were ‘more Irish than the Irish themselves’.

The Fourteenth Century 

1301-1400 AD

The Fourteenth Century saw two calamities which helped to bring the High Middle Ages to their end.

The First Calamity was the Avignon Captivity and the Great Schism.

The Second Calamity  was The Black Death Plague.

The Fourteenth Century saw two calamities which helped to bring the High Middle Ages to their end. 

The first calamity was the weakening of the Church, which came to a head in the Babylonian or Avignon Captivity and the Great Schism.

The Church was becoming soft and lazy. This is always a temptation when life becomes too easy. There were plenty of saintly people, but many others, including monks, nuns, priests and bishops, and even Popes, began to neglect their duties.

The second calamity was The Black Death plague.

The Babylonian (or Avignon) Captivity

At the beginning of the Fourteenth Century the Pope issued a decree declaring that the Pope had the right to judge the immoral actions of Kings. The strong King of France had the Pope attacked in his own chambers. The Pope died soon after. The next Pope reigned only a year. The next Pope, afraid of the French King, moved the entire Papal Court to Avignon in the South of France (although it was technically Papal territory). When this Pope died, the next Pope also remained in Avignon, and so did the next. Avignon was a far more pleasant city than Rome, and the Popes began to prefer living there to living in Rome. Before this, the Pope was seen as the judge of all kingdoms, being fair to all. Now the King of France was seen as more powerful than the Pope, and the Pope was seen as taking sides with the French. Also, the Pope was the bishop of Rome and the successor of St Peter, yet he was living in Avignon. This period, known as the Babylonian Captivity, lasted for nearly seventy years.

Saint Bridget of Sweden and Saint Catherine of Siena persuaded the Pope to return to Rome.

The Great Schism

The next Pope was very unpopular, and a group of Cardinals left Rome and elected a second ‘pope’ who went back to Avignon. Now for nearly forty years there were two rival popes. Towards the end of that time a council of Cardinals asked both popes to resign, and elected a third ‘pope’, but this only made things worse, as now there were three men all claiming to be the true Pope. At length the popes did agree to stand down to allow one Pope to be elected. He stayed in Rome. The Great Schism had lasted for nearly forty years. A Council of the Church eventually declared that the original Pope, and his successors in Rome, had been the true Popes; but at the time it was perhaps impossible for ordinary people to decide. The princes and kings chose one rival over the other on political lines, not theological.  Saint Vincent Ferrer and others had supported the Avginon ‘popes’, but after the formal decision of the Church, recognised the Pope of Rome as the true successor of Peter. 

[Strictly speaking, this was not a “schism”, which means a rejection of the Authority of the Catholic church and the Pope:  it was simply a dispute over who the Pope actually was.]

There were two disastrous consequences of these troubles.

Firstly, the Popes were too busy with the wrong things to correct the bishops, monks and ordinary faithful who were failing in their duties. Things in the Church therefore went from bad to worse.

Secondly, people lost a great deal of confidence in the power of the Papacy itself, and in respect for the office of Pope.

The Black Death

From the middle of the Fourteenth Century the terrible plague of The Black Death suddenly struck Europe. About one third of the entire population of Europe died in agony of this terrifying disease, of which no cure was found. Farmlands went back to wasteland. The serfs, or slave farmers who survived, discovered that they were desperately needed by the landowners, who now had few people to work their farms. They were able to gain their freedom in exchange for their work in the fields. The feudal system, which had been so successful in defending ordinary folk against the barbarians so long ago, broke down. The landowners could never revive it after the Black Death. Some people fled to the churches and performed many prayers and penances; others turned their backs on God altogether.

The Hundred Years’ War

The Kings of England and France fought for the territory of France from the mid-Fourteenth to the mid-Fifteenth Centuries.

The Renaissance began from about the middle of the Fourteenth Century, spreading from Italy. There was a re-birth of interest in the Classical culture of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Art became far more realistic.

Classical architecture was revived, and wonderful new buildings were built in the ancient styles, or based on them.

Some people started dressing in togas and trying to revive the ancient pagan festivals.

Many Rennaissance scholars began to believe that the Ancient culture was superior to Christian civilisation. For some, it became a means of losing their faith. The Fathers of the Church, from the Second to Fourth centuries, had always been aware of this danger.

The late Middle Ages saw the rise of Humanism : a completely new and self-centered way of looking at the world. Worldly goods began to be valued for their own sake, and not simply as a means of attaining Heaven.

The Fifteenth Century 

1401-1500 AD

The Fifteenth Century saw the waning of the Middle Ages,  the invention of the Printing Press, and the Discovery of The New World  by the peoples of Europe.

The Fifteenth Century saw the Waning of the Middle Ages.

A notable feature of the Spiritual life of Christendom in the early part of the Fifteenth Century was a devotion to the Sufferings of Christ.  Yet with the decline in philosophy inherited from the Fourteenth Century, these devotions tended to become over-sentimental and detached from Catholic dogma and even Holy Scripture.  This led to the reaction of such as  John Wyclif and John Hus, who rejected ecclesial authority and taught that Scripture Alone was to be the rule of faith.  A look at their history shows that the issues were very complex, involving ralations of church and State, and personal issues.  Nevertheless they are seen as precursors of the Protestant Rebellion of the following century.  It was the tragedy of the time that the Church failed to reform the real abuses of the day, thus giving credence to those who took reaction as far as an outright rejection of the authority of the Hierarchy.

The Hundred Years’ War

At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French army was utterly defeated, and King Charles VI of France promised the kingship of France to the English King Henry V when Charles should die, instead of to his own son and the heir to the throne, the Dauphin Charles. Had this happened, England and France would have become one kingdom and it is unlikely that the French could have preserved or been able to cultivate their own way of life. 

Saint Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl aged eighteen, heard voices from Heaven telling her to lead the Dauphin to Rheims, there to receive his rightful crown. Joan put a new spirit into the French and led them from victory to victory, until the Dauphin was indeed crowned King of France. She was captured by the Burgundians, allies of the English, and burned at the stake as a witch, but the English lost all their possessions in France. 

In 1453 was the Fall of Constantinople to the Moslem Turks. This date is often reckoned to mark the end of the High Middle Ages.

The Turks continued to press far into Europe, but they were driven back after the Siege of Belgrade was lifted. In thanksgiving for this victory, the Pope decreed that the Feast of the Transfiguration be celebrated on August 6th every year.

At the very same time, the Fifteenth Century saw the Discovery of the Americas. Millions of souls in these lands were being brought into the Faith. Entire tribes would present themselves for Holy Baptism.

At the end of the Fifteenth Century, in 1492, the last Moslem ruler in Spain surrendered. The Moslems had been in Spain for seven hundred years.

The Sixteenth Century 

1501-1600 AD

The Sixteenth Century saw the beginning of the Protestant Rebellion, which the Protestants call the Reformation, followed by the Catholic Counter-Reformation. 

The middle of the Sixteenth Century saw the beginning of the Protestant Rebellion, which the Protestants call the Reformation.

Its initial leader was Martin Luther.

He was a Catholic Priest in Germany. He began by speaking out against wrongs in the Church, but soon was rejecting the authority of the Pope, devotion to Our Lady, the Seven Sacraments, and much else.  Luther’s teachings changed over time, but his main tenets were: Sola Scriptura: that ‘Scripture Alone’ is the complete guide to Faith, rejecting all Tradition as an Authority; That Salvation is by Faith Alone, and Good Works count for nothing, except as a sign of Faith; and that Man is in a condition of Total Depravity:  God will ‘cover’ our sins (he famously compared it to a drift of snow over a dunghill, the latter being our soul), but we are not really cleansed; and that the Eucharist was not the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, as the Catholic church had always taught.  He also taught that Divorce and rejection of Religious vows was acceptable.  Luther’s rejection of Authority had devastating consequences for social order.  Protestant princes closed churches, monasteries, convents, schools and hospitals, and kept the wealth for themselves. The priests, monks and nuns were either driven out or put to death.  Many embraced a lawless and immoral lifestyle and were active in social unrest.  Luther’s teachings led to the Peasants’ Revolt.  The peasants, encouraged to reject all authority, rebelled against the princes and Luther, suddenly changing sides, encouraged the princes to crush the revolt:  100,000 peasants were killed by their own lords. 

The key figure of the Reformation, however, was John Calvin.

Where Luther had encouraged a general questioning and rejection of points of Catholic practice, Calvin worked out an entirely new religious system as a direct rival to Catholic theology.

A key part of Calvin’s theology was the rejection of the doctrine of Free Will. Instead, he insisted upon Predestination - ‘God’s immutable decrees’.  God, for mysterious purposes of His own, predestined all souls either to Heaven or to Hell before they were born.  One can only hope that one is of the ‘Elect’.

Calvinists believed that worldly success was a sign of God’s favour - a sign that the rich man was not one of those predestined to hell.

Calvin taught that Good and Bad were the products of the Divine Will entirely:  that God had decreed that Love is Good and Hate is Evil, but He might just as well have chosen it the other way round, and we would then have been obliged to hate instead of love.  By contrast, Catholic teaching is that Good and Evil are eternal Truths.  God is eternally Good by His Nature, and yet by a Mystery He makes the Act of Will to adhere to the Good.  It is not for nothing that we pray with the psalmist, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good”.

Calvin taught that the Scripture alone was to be believed. However, he was backed by important princes who wanted divorce, and so he taught that this was allowable. Originally both Luther and Calvin had taught the indissolubility of marriage, but both of them, under pressure from the princes who were their financial backers, reversed their teaching and taught that divorce was allowable in certain circumstances. 

The later Sixteenth Century saw the Catholic Counter-Reformation.  A major turning-point was the Council of Trent, beginning in 1545.  Although it was far too late to win back all the countries which had turned away, this council codified doctrine and passed laws to correct many abuses.  The Church was reformed more thoroughly than perhaps ever before, and many saints and martyrs made this century a particularly glorious one for the Catholic Church.  A multitude of people worked at this task.  Notable were Pope S. Pius V and Pope Gregory XII in implementing the Council’s decrees; S. Teresa of Avila in reforming the Contemplative life;  S. Philip Neri & 

S. Charles Borromeo in the reform of the clergy and of morals;  S. Ignatius of Loyola and his new Order of the Jesuits in apostolic activity;  S. Francis Xavier in the foreign missions.  The Counter-Reformation stemmed the tide of Protestant revolution, and brought about a true and lasting reform, but the Church had mobilised her spiritual forces too late to reverse the Protestant movement.

The Elizabethan Plantation of Ireland began in the middle of the Sixteenth Century. The English intended to make Ireland as English as any other part of England. English noblemen were given great tracts of land in Ireland, to settle with English farmers. However, the plantation was not very successful and most of the English farmers returned home.

The Seventeenth Century 

1601-1700 AD

 The Seventeenth Century was a time of Religious Wars in Europe.  It was the century of the Scientific Revolution.

The Seventeenth Century was a time of Religious Wars in Europe.

At the beginning of the Seventeenth Century was The Flight of the Earls.

The last great noblemen of Gaelic Ireland, Hugh O’Neill and Rory O’Donnell, with their family and followers, ninety-nine in all, on the Feast of the Holy Cross 1607, sailed from Lough Swilly to Europe, hoping to return one day. But they never did. Everyone in Ireland saw it as the final end of the Ancient Gaelic World. From this time the old traditional Irish ways, having no leaders, began to melt rapidly away, and the clans began to break up. 

Scientific Revolution 

During the Seventeenth Century occurred the Scientific Revolution.  There had been a steadily increasing progress in knowledge, which began before, and has continued after, the Seventeenth Century, but it was during this century that our basic ideas of the World were overturned: from a picture that was essentially the same as that of the Greek philosophers before Christ, to one that we recognise as "Modern".    By the end of the century people thought in terms of Matter, Forces, Energy, the chemical elements, the Laws of Motion, the Scientific Method.

It was the century in which we first began to think of "Science" as a discipline in its own right, instead of being considered a part of "Natural Philosophy".  There was always more than one opinion on these matters, but the dominating influence during the later Middle Ages was the view of the world derived from Aristotle (physical science, Natural history, mathematics and much else), Ptolemy (astronomy) and Galen (anatomy and medicine)Perhaps the key discovery was the development of the Scientific Method, which for the first time gave a systematic method for obtaining reliable new knowledge of the physical world.  It centres round the Controlled experiment.  Mathematics also made huge progress after a static period of many centuries,notably the development of the calculus by Newton and Leibnitz, which allowed the development of modern Engineering and much else.  The figures of the Scientific Revolution are too numerous to mention, but included Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.

It is claimed by some that the Scientific Revolution was part of an abandonment of the Faith, but all of the above were devout in their Faith.

On the other hand, the new ways of looking at the world tended to emphasise the physical facts of the universe, while spiritual and mental realities came to be sidelined.  The later Middle Ages had developed a scheme of the world in which Faith and natural science were fully integrated:  for example, it was assumed that the planets were kept in motion by archangels. [If archangels exist, it is not unreasonable to assume such things.] 

In the rapid transitions of thought during this century, however, there was a danger that changes to scientific understanding would lead many to abandon the Faith entirely.  This is what concerned the Catholic Church: to avoid rash statements that would undermine the Faith of many without sufficient cause, not that the Church was against new learning and research at all.  In fact, the Church had always supported such things, and the major Universities of Europe had been instituted by the Church.

Not all historians of science are agreed that there was any revolution in the 16th or 17th century.  There was rapid development, but perhaps 'Revolution' is too strong a word.  It was a natural development of previous ideas, with a judicious selection of ideas from outside Europe.  However, it was the European thinkers who integrated these many separate topics into a larger picture that was consistent and capable of future development.

Oliver Cromwell arrived in Ireland in 1649. His armies were more brutal than anything since the Barbarian Invasions. Almost half of the entire native Irish population perished. In the first town he attacked — Drogheda — he ordered every man, woman and child to be killed, to terrify the rest of the Irish. But they never gave in to him.

In 1690 was the Battle of the Boyne, at which the Catholic Army under the Stuart King James was defeated by the Protestant Army under King William of Orange. This Battle was not simply about who would rule Ireland; it was about which side would control Europe.

In 1695 the Penal Laws were enacted. These took away all rights from Catholics, and Nonconformists, in Ireland.

The Eighteenth Century 

1701-1800 AD

The Eighteenth Century saw a development called ‘The Enlightenment’. 

It was the century of The French Revolution, the American War of Independence, and the Industrial Revolution. In Ireland, Holy Mass was offered in secret at the Mass Rocks, while learning was maintained in 

the Hedge-schools.

The Eighteenth Century saw a development called ‘The Enlightenment’. Men turned their backs on all authority - God, King and even parents. They refused to believe in Original Sin and taught that all are born good, and need no-one to tell them what to do. This set of beliefs is known as liberalism.

All during the Eighteenth Century in Ireland, Holy Mass was offered in secret at the Mass Rocks, while learning was maintained in the Hedge-schools.

In the Eighteenth Century was the American War of Independence. England lost control of her American Colonies, and the United States of America came into being.

In the Eighteenth Century the State of Prussia in northern Germany became very strong. King Frederick the Great of Prussia cared nothing for right and wrong and everything for power.

In the Eighteenth Century occurred the Partition of Poland. The once independent country was divided up between Prussia, Austria and Russia.

The French Revolution occurred in the Eighteenth Century, in 1789. The King of France and his Queen were beheaded, and huge numbers of priests, nuns and ordinary people were put to death. There was no law and nobody was safe. Yet all this was done in the name of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity [brotherhood]".

A serious attempt was made to wipe out the Catholic Church. In the end the leaders of the Revolution were putting each other to death, and the French, who had been persuaded to turn against their King, now were grateful to accept a man of no Royal birth at all, and not even French (he was a Corsican) as The Emperor Napoleon. He promised the French people a new period of Law and Order, and that he would make France great again.

From the middle of the Eighteenth Century occurred the Industrial Revolution. The invention of the steam-engine led to the development of much more rapid transport and to the building of large factories. People left their cottages and began to live in large cities, working in factories.

At the end of the Eighteenth Century and the beginning of the Nineteenth Centuries were the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon led his armies on wars of conquest such as had not been seen since the Barbarian Invasions. There had been wars all through the Middle Ages, but Princes had nearly always asked the Pope’s permission, or had persuaded him that it was better for Christendom that they should enlarge their territory, to bring the people laws closer to the laws of God. Thus these wars were limited and local.

The Nineteenth Century 

1801-1900 AD

The Nineteenth Century was a time of great optimism in the ability of Man to control Nature and his own destiny through natural science, while neglecting the religious side of life. It was a period of increasing strain.  Darwin, Mendel, Marx and Freud lived in the Nineteenth Century.

During the Nineteenth Century there were great advances in science, but governments continued to neglect the Church, or even to persecute her. More and more, Science was thought of as something opposed to religion, instead of a way of learning about God’s Creation.

In 1825 Our Lady appeared to St Bernadette at Lourdes, telling her, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception".

In 1825 Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species.  This book, challenging the then almost universal belief that God had created the world during seven days in 4004BC, and that species could evolve over time, caused a sensation in Protestant countries, but was much less noticed in Catholic countries, where there was more interest in Our Lady of Lourdes, and where there was a theology of Biblical exegesis that permitted the opinion that the account in Genesis was a theological scheme rather than literal history.

Gregor Mendel, an Augustinian monk, effectively solved the mystery of how traits are inherited from one generation to the next.  He published in 1866 the results of his breeding experiments on plants in the Monastery Garden.  Although a key item in the study of evolution, Mendel and Darwin never knew about each other.

In 1829 the Irish Penal laws were repealed due to the influence of Daniel O’Connell.

Karl Marx taught that the dominant ideas of a nation  at any time are determined by the economic situation; and that the course of history is a fixed and predictable process.  He denied God and declared that a conflict between the Upper and Lower classes would end with the victory of the Lower classes, to be followed by a Classless Society and a Paradise on Earth.  What he preached, in effect, was a Religion that denied God.  His ideas had a powerful attraction to millions, who rose in armed revolt against the so-called Upper classes and against Religion.  

Sigmund Freud was a highly successful psychologist.  He cured many people of their mental illnesses, and founded the discipline known as psychanalysis.  He was the first to realise that we have a ‘subconscious mind’ - many of our thoughts, although real, are hidden from us.  His teachings ignored the existence of God and were seen by many as a means of escaping the need to involve God in our understanding of the mind.  Many of his ideas were also quite shocking to those who thought of Man a ‘a rational animal with an immortal soul’.  Freud fully supported the Nineteenth Century idea that Religion had been useful for primitive society, but could now be dispensed with in favour of Reason and Science.

In the middle of the Nineteenth Century was the terrible Potato Famine. The cloudy and muggy weather all over Europe throughout 1845 led to the uncontrollable spread of the parasitic fungus Phytophthora infesans, which was lethal to the potato plant. The Irish population was reduced by nearly one half by starvation and emigration, while the landowners insisted on taking away the other food which Ireland was still producing in abundance : wheat, vegetables, beef and mutton. Yet through all this terrible suffering the Irish people never lost their faith in God and their devotion to the Catholic Faith. But they began to lose all faith in the Irish language and the future of Ireland as a nation. Many thought the only thing to do was to learn English and then emigrate.

Later in the Nineteenth Century Our Lady appeared to fifteen simple Irish people at Knock in County Mayo. She said no word; she gave comfort to faithful Ireland simply by being there.

All through the Nineteenth Century the Popes warned against the wrong direction that civilisation was taking. Factory workers and poor people were being treated more cruelly and heartlessly than ever before, yet the rich owners were told this was the way things ought to be. The Manchester Materialists referred to Charles Darwin's writings on Evolution and the Survival of the Fittest to justify their oppression of the weak.

The Popes wrote very strongly against Modernism, which one Pope called ‘the Synthesis of all Heresies’.

The popes denounced the Masonic Order in the very strongest terms, as the arch-enemy of the Church.

In 1893, the Gaelic League was founded by Douglas Hyde to revive Irish culture: language, sport and traditions.

The Twentieth Century 

1901-2000 AD

The Twentieth Century saw a series of frightful wars alongside an explosion of material progress. It was an all-out battle between the forces of Heaven, led by Our Lady of Fatima, and the forces of Hell, led by Atheistic Communism.  In mid-century the Catholic Church, after the Second Vatican Council, lost her self-confidence and tried to befriend the world, her greatest enemy.

In 1914 the First World War, then called the Great War, broke out.

Pope S. Pius X died of a broken heart after the War broke out.

On Easter Week, 1916, the Irish Rebellion began and the Irish Republic was proclaimed from the steps of the GPO in Dublin.

On 13th of May 1916 Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three children, the first of six apparitions. She showed them a vision of Hell; foretold the future; and urged prayer and penance to make reparation for the many sins of men. "If my requests [for amendment of lives, prayer, and acts of reparation] are not heeded, … the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. ... In the end, The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted; my Immaculate Heart will triumph; and God will grant a period of peace to the World".

On 13th October 1916 was The Miracle of the Sun at Fatima.

In the very same month was the October Revolution in Russia.

The Russian Royal Family were murdered and the Godless Bolshevik – Communist – Government began its existence. By lies and false promises it intended to take over the world and totally destroy the Catholic Faith. One of its leaders, Lenin, declared, ‘The only country we will never take is Ireland; her Faith is too strong.’ A group of Irishmen started up a branch of the Communist Party in Ireland, but as they began each meeting with a decade of the Rosary, Lenin was probably not very pleased with them.

In 1922, Britain and Ireland signed the Irish Treaty establishing 23 counties of Ireland as the Irish Free State. The Six Counties of Ulster remained under British control.

The Second World War was waged from 1939 - 1945, as predicted by Our Lady of Fatima.

The Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church was held from 1962 to 1965.  During this Council the movement in the Church which Pope St. Pius X had castigated as ‘Modernist’ was able to gain control of the direction of the Church. The effects of this Council are still being debated to this day.

In the late 1980s many countries ruled by Communists suddenly found their governments losing control and resigning. This was all happening far more peacefully than anyone had dared hope. For example, Czechoslovakia saw the Velvet Revolution in which not a single person was killed.  One reason for this was that the Communist system gave too little incentive for ordinary people to work, with the result that it became impossible to maintain even basic material standards of living.  Thus the promises of Marxism were seen to have failed, whereas it became impossible to hide the fact that the so-called Capitalist countires were advancing in prosperity.

On Christmas Day, 1991, The Government of the Communist Soviet Union signed itself out of existence, breaking up into 13 independent countries. The City of Leningrad returned to its ancient name of St. Petersburg. the Soviet Union broke up into the Commonwealth of Independent States, and began to adopt a more Western style of government and economics. However, these countries were still economically dependent on Russia and very soon were veering back towards the centralised and undemocratic ways of the former Soviet Union.

The Twenty-first Century 

2001-2100 AD

Archbishop Lefebvre said: “the Twenty-first Century will be Catholic, 

or it will not be at all”.

In the opening years of twenty-first Century, there has been a notable rise both in terrorism and in tremendous natural disasters.

Our Lady of Fatima has said “in the end, my Immaculate heart will triumph; the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted; and God will grant a period of peace to the world”.

Archbishop Lefebvre said: “the Twenty-first Century will be Catholic, or it will not be at all”.

Subpages (1): A Note on Dating