1301
King Philip IV the Fair of France imprisoned a contumacious Bishop of Pamiers and demanded his degradation.

The famous artist Giotto of Bondone returned to Florence from Rome and painted The Last Judgment in the Chapel of the Podesta.

1302
Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal Bull, Ausculta Fili. This Bull was rejected by King Philip IV of France Pope Boniface answered him with the Papal Encyclical, Unam Sanctam, it declared Primacy of the Holy See.

King Philip IV the Fair calls together the first Estates General; this is the ancestor of the French Parliament.

Death of Blessed Andrew of Anagni, a Franciscan priest. He was the nephew of Pope Alexander IV, and a relative of Pope Boniface VIII.

King Philip IV published several virulent pamphlets against Pope Boniface VIII.

1303
The Tragedy of Anagni. King Philip IV’s men seized Pope Boniface VIII; their mistreatment of the Pontiff caused his premature death.

Blessed Benedict XI becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Niccolo Boccasino, the Archbishop of Ostia. He was from a humble family, his father was a Notary. He was a Dominican, he lectured in Theology and wrote many commentaries on the Psalms, Job, St. Matthew, and the book of Revelation. He had also been the Dominican Provincial for Lombardy. His reign as Pope lasted nine months, he created three Dominican Cardinals.

1304
King Philip IV the Fair demanded for a General Church Council to get the dead Pope, Boniface VIII, post humously condemned. This proposed Council never came; however Pope Benedict did issue a pardon for all Frenchmen involved in the Tragedy of Anagni, except the ring-leader, Guillaume De Nogaret.

Pope Benedict XI moved from Rome to Perugia in April of this year. He obliged Frederick III of Sicily to renew his allegiance and requested payment for his dues. The Pontiff’s efforts to restore peace in Tuscany and Florence did end up successfully.

Death of Pope Blessed Benedict XI. He was not poisoned, he died a natural death, acute dysentry, following a painful sickness while in prison. The Pseudo-Apostle, Arnold of Villanova imprisoned the Pontiff for his attitude toward the heretical sect. He is buried at St. Domenico, where miraculous cures were soon reported at his tomb.

The Holy See remains vacant for eleven months.

1304-1308
Pierre Dubois, a pupil of St. Thomas Aquinas, wrote a very important work, De Recuperations Terrae Sanctae.

1305
Sir William Wallace was beheaded in England.

Death of Blessed Santuccia, Matron. She inaugurated a community of Benedictine Nuns who called themselves Servants of Mary, but were popularly known as Santuccie. Her Cultus has never been confirmed.

Giotto painted the famous Jesus’ Childhood in the Scrovegni, or Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy. The fresco depicts Christ disputing with the Elders.

Clement V becomes Pope. The split conclave agreed precisely two-thirds majority, Archbishop Bertrand De Got. He had been Archbishop of Bordeaux since 1299. His election came as a result of the manipulation of King Philip IV the Fair of France.

The Avignon Papacy begins. Seven Popes were exiled from Rome to Avignon, France. This is also referred to as the Babylonian Captivity. Many French Cardinals were created and the prestige of the Papacy was weakened.

1305-1310
Giotto paints the Scrovegn Frescos.

1306
Father Bernard Gui becomes Inquisitor General at Toulouse.

Giotto was called to Padua to paint the Capella Dell’ Arena, built by Enrico Scrovegni in expiation of the crimes of his father, the famous usurer, Reginaldo.

Giotto painted thirty-six scenes from the life of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin.

Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland.

1307
Pope Clement V founded the University of Perugia.

Edward II becomes King of England.

On October 13, King Philip IV the Fair, on the sole strength of so-called revelations of a few unworthy and degraded members, issued secret orders throughout France to arrest all Knights Templars and submit them to a most rigorous examination; unbeknownst to Ecclesiastical Inquisitors.

1308
Death of Blessed James, Archbishop of Naples.

Henry IV of Luxembourg was crowned Emperor.

Pope Clement V publishes the Papal Bull Regnans in Coelis. A special Bull issued on August 8, directed the Order of Knights Templars to send suitable Defensores to the Council of Vienne, before which the Grand Master and the other chief officials had commanded to appear in person.

Allghieri Dante wrote the famous Divine Comedy.

1309
St. Peter’s was held by the troops of Robert of Naples.

Pierre Dubois writes on the Question of the Holy Roman Empire, on the Eastern Question and against the Order of Knights Templars

1310
Death of Blessed Oringa, virgin. She lived with her band of women under the Rule of St. Augustine.

1310-1320
The Anastasis Fresco was painted in Constantinople.

1311
Duccio Di Buoninsegna creates his famous tempera on wood masterpiece, Jesus Opens the Eyes of a Man Born Blind.

Meister Eckhart becomes professor of theology at the University of Paris.

1312
The Ecumenical Council of Vienne. The three hundred Bishops and many Prelates who attended this General Council suppressed the Knights Templars and condemned the Beguards and Beguines. They also enacted Canon Law, defined three Dogmas, and wrote disciplinary decrees.

King Philip IV the Fair seized the wealth of the suppressed Knights Templars.

Jacques Duese is made Cardinal Archbishop of Porto.

1313
Birth of Boccaaccio, prominent figure of the Italian Literary Renaissance.

Death of St. Notburga. She worked for Count Henry of Rattenburg and gave left over food to the poor.

Alighieri Dante wrote his long essay Latin prose, The Monarchia, (on World Government). Dante called for the State, in a form of the Holy Roman Empire, to join with the Church in guiding people to a better life on earth and joy in Heaven.

1314
Death of King Philip IV the Fair, the enemy of the Pope.

Louis X the Headstrong, becomes King of France.

Battle of Bannockburn. Scotland assured its independence from England by winning this battle.

Frederick III, a Hapsburg, becomes King of Germany.

Louis IV becomes Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany. A dispute arose when Louis IV and Frederick III, the Fair, of Austria were both elected King of Germany. The Pope ordered them to settle their dispute amicably.

1315
Death of Pope Clement V. The Holy See is vacant for one year and three months.

1315-1388
The Swiss Wars of Independence. The Swiss defeated Austria.

1316
John XXII become Pope. He was Cardinal Jacques Duese. He was elderly, feeble in health, dwarflike and wisp-like. Pope John XXII was immensely energetic as well as administratively experienced, and did much to restore the efficient working of the Curia and its financial viability, both badly run down by his predecessor.

Death of King Louis X of France. John I is crowned King of France. Philip V ascends to the French Throne.

1316-1334
Pope John XXII struggled with Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian over Papal right to confir election of the Emperor.

1317
Pope John XXII split up large Dioceses and redrew the boundaries of others. The Pontiff also took sharp actions against the General of the Franciscan Order, Michael of Cesena.

Pope John XXII excommunicated the Fraticelli ring-leader, Brother Angelo, and had him placed in custody. The Holy Father refused to authorize the heretical congregation of which Brother Angelo was head.

St. Louis of Toulouse was Canonized a Saint by Pope John XXII.

1318
Pope John XXII begins the devotion to the Angelus.

Pope John XXII establishes the Archbishopric in Iran with six suffragan Sees.

Pope John XXII condemns the Fraticelli heresy in the Papal Bull, Gloriosam Ecclesiarn, issued on January 23. This heresy began with Gherardo Segarelli; the same heretic that was burned at Parma in 1300. They were then known as the Pseudo-Apostles. In an attempt to glorify their heretical views, present day anti-Catholic historians refer to them as the “Spiritual Franciscans.” The Fraticelli heresy held that there were two churches, one carnal, the other spiritual; that only the spiritual church has the true Scriptures and Divine power, and that in them alone was the Gospel of Jesus Christ fulfilled. This is very similar to Luther and Lutheranism. Martin Luther chose to put his emphasis on faith.

Their second error, by which the conscience of the first error is stained, cries out that the Priest and other ministers of the Church are so lacking of authority that they cannot pass sentences, perform the Sacraments, teach nor instruct the subject to the laity. It’s the same error as the Donatists and the Waldensians.

1320
Giotto completed his famous Frescoes at Assisi. In the lower Church of the famous Basilica of St. Francis, the masterful artist painted the wonderful scenes such as the Triumph of St. Francis.

1320-1326
Meister Eckhart teaches at Cologne, Germany.

1321
Martyrdom of Blessed Thomas of Tolentino. He was a Franciscan missionary. He was beheaded.

On July 21, Pope John XXII condemned the errors of John Pouilly in his Edict, Vas Electionis; (about Confession).

Pope John XXII on November 21, declares from the letter, Nequaquam sine Dolore, to the Armenians, “The Roman Catholic Church teaches...that the souls...of those who die in mortal sin, or with only original sin descend immediately into hell; however, to be punished with different penalties and in different places.

1322
Charles IV becomes King of France. He was the last of the Capetian Kings.

Louis IV the Bavarian defeated his rival for the Imperial Crown, Frederick III and imprisoned him. He then appointed his own imperial vicar and began claiming royal rights in Italy. He also supported the Pope’s enemies.

1323
Thomas Aquinas is Canonized a Saint.

1324
Pope John XXII refused to crown Louis IV the Bavarian Holy Roman Emperor and excommunicated him.

Louis IV appealed to a general council and called the Pope a heretic.

1325
Louis IV the Bavarian released Frederick III from prison.

1326
Louis IV the Bavarian wars with Leopold I, Frederick’s brother and rival Emperor.

Apparition. A Radiant Lady appears to a cowherd in Zaragoya, Spain and tells him where to unearth a treasure near the entrance of an underground cave.

1327
Meister Eckart is summoned to Avignon to defend himself against accusations of heresy. Eckart, a Dominican, implemented Neoplatonic thought. His teaching of the soul being in union with God was pantheism. He is a hero among the present day Protestants. He recanted on twenty-six of his many heretical views. Some of the views he did not recant were:

1). God did not create the world first.

2). The world exists from eternity.

3). When God was, He begot the Son co-eternal with Himself.

4). One glorifies God in all works, even evil works.

5). He who blames anyone, by the sin of blaming, praises God.

6). The more one gravely sins, the more one praises God.

7). Anyone blaspheming God, praises God.

8). Anyone who renounces the Kingdom of Heaven, or who does not seek after rewards, spiritual or monetary, praises God.

9). God was a master at giving, so we should not wish for things from Him. We ought not to be in eternal life.

10). We are changed into God; as in a similar manner as in the Sacrament the bread is changed into the body of Christ; so Eckart taught, “I am changed into Him because He Himself makes me to be one with Him, not like (to Him); through the living God it is true that there is no distinction there.”

11). Whatever God the Father gave to His only begotten Son in Human Nature He gave to me; hear I accept nothing, neither union, nor sanctity, but He has given all to me as Himself.

12). Whatever Sacred Scripture says about Christ, it is also verified in every good and divine man.

13). If a man commits a thousand mortal sins, he ought not to wish he had committed them.

It was this heretic, Meister Eckhart, whom the reformers drew their thinking from.

Pope John XXII also condemned the errors of Marsilius of Padua.

Louis IV the Bavarian invades Italy and occupies Rome.

Death of Meister Eckhart.

Edward III of the House of Plantagenent, becomes King of England. He was the son of Edward II who was forced to abdicate the Throne.

1328
Nicholas V is anti-Pope at Rome. He crowned Louis IV the Bavarian Emperor. It was Louis IV who proclaimed the anti-Pope Nicholas, Pope.

Philip VI ascends to the French Throne, ending the long Capetian Monarchy. He was the cousin of Charles IV and grandson of Philip IV the Fair.

1329
Pope John XXII condemns twenty-eight of Meister Eckhart’s ideas as heresy.

1330
Eucharist Miracle of Walldurn. The spilled consecrated Blood formed a large picture of Christ crucified, surrounded by eleven pictures of Christ’s Head, crowned with thorns. The Sacred Corporal can still be viewed to this day!

Giotto visited Naples at the request of King Robert of Anjou.

Anti-Pope Nicholas V abdicated.

King Edward III regained full power in England and had his mother’s lover, Roger De Mortimer hanged.

Death of Frederick III.

1331
Eucharistic Miracle of Blanot. Altar Boy Thomas Caillot caught a piece of the consecrated Host that had fallen from a woman’s mouth on a Pall. The Host disappeared and a spot of red Blood took its place. The priest tried to wash the Pall, the stain, which was really a mound of Blood, did not wash out. Instead, it widened; the water that ran through was blood red. The Sacred Pall can still be viewed to this day! Every year on the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Sacred Pall is processed up and displayed for the Faithful.

Birth of Pierre Roger De Beaufort. He is the future Pope Gregory XI and is the nephew of Pope Clement VI.

1333
Eucharistic Miracle. St. Imelda, dies in ecstasy immediately following the reception of her first Holy Communion at the age of eleven.

Civil War breaks out in Scotland. King Edward III of England invades Scotland and conquered the Scots at Halidon Hill, England and restored Edward De Baliol to the Scottish Throne.

1334
Benedict XII becomes Pope.

Bernard Gui leaves his post as Inquisitor General and is consecrated Bishop of Louroux.

Giotto the famous artist, and is also a remarkable architect, becomes the chief architect of the Cathedral of Florence.

1337
Death of the famous artist and architect, Giotto, he was seventy-one.

The Hundred Years War between England and France begins on May 24.

King Edward III of England claimed to be legal heir to the French Throne through his mother, Isabella, the sister of King Charles IV of France, the last Capetian King.

1338
King Edward III of England declared himself to be the King of France and invaded the country called the Eldest Daughter of the Church from the North.

1340
The English defeated the French in Netherlands.

Simone Martini created his masterpiece, Christ on the Road to Calvary, a tempera painting on wood. The painting is still on display at the Louvre, in Paris, France.

1342
Clement VI becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Pierre Roger.

Pope Clement VI condemned the Flagellants. These heretics advocated excessive “self Flagellation;” confessed sins to laymen; believed that penance helped the damned; denied the Sacraments; and taught that one month’s penance was necessary for the forgiveness of sins.

1343
Pope Clement VI received a Roman deputation which conferred on him the rank of Senator, and begged him to return the Papacy to Rome.

A Truce was signed between England and France.

1344
St. Bridget of Sweden, upon the death of her husband, left her home and began a life of poverty and prayer in a Cistercian Monastery.

1345
King Edward III invades France again.

1346
The English win a decisive victory over the French in the battle of Crecy, signalizing the end of feudal methods of warfare.

1347
Birth of St. Catherine of Sienna.

The English take the city of Calais.

The Black Death, the Bubonic Plague sweeps across Europe. This lethal epidemic, which began twenty some years earlier in the Gobi Desert, killed tens of millions of people, annihilating one quarter of the population of Europe. The Dominican Order lost many of their priests due to the Black Death.

Charles IV becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

Death of Louis IV the Bavarian.

1347-1355
England and France sign another Truce.

1348
Italy experiences many earthquakes. The scandals prevalent in Church and State intensified in the popular mind; many thought the end of the world was at hand.

1349
St. Bridget of Sweden moves to Rome, where she remained the rest of her life.

Pope Clement VI condemns the Flagellants as heretics. The followers of Venturino of Bergamo, the Flagellants, reached Flanders, Holland, Bohemia, Poland, Denmark, and by September of this year, England. They met with little success.

1350
St. Bridget of Sweden receives revelation from Christ and writes the Magnificent Prayers.

John II is crowned King of France.

Birth of St. Vincent Ferrer.

1351
The Statute of Provisors was issued by King Edward III of England. This decree nullified Papal appointments made without consent of the King. This is the same statute Henry VIII would enforce in the sixteenth century.

1352
Innocent VI becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Etienne Aubert. He had been a professor of law at Toulouse and chief judge of the city.

1353
Geoffrey De Charny came into possession of the Holy Shroud of Turin, called the Holy Mandylion at this time, in Lirey, France. We do not know how the Holy Shroud got from Constantinople to Lirey; only that this man, who was a member of the Order of Knights Templars, had it in his possession. From this moment on the Holy Shroud’s continuous existence was rigorously documented in the West. Geoffrey De Charny was killed in battle during the Hundred Years War with England.

1355
The Bishop of Troyes declares the Holy Shroud to be spurious (false). He claimed it was a painting.

England breaks the Truce with France. The Black Prince captures Bordeaux.

1356
Father Nicholas Eymeric becomes Grand Inquisitor at the age of thirty-six at Avignon, France. Inquisitor Generals had to be at least forty years old, but because of Father Eymeric’s advanced intelligence and the Church’s losses due to the Black Death, he was promoted.

The English take Poitiers in west-central France in September. The siege was led by the Black Prince. This was England’s second great victory of the war.

1357
In an effort to alleviate financial difficulties the widow of Geoffrey De Charny exhibited the Holy Shroud to raise money for her family. The exhibition took place in Lirey, but was discontinued at the request of the Bishop. Geoffrey De Charny II inherited the Holy Shroud after his mother’s death.

1359
Rudolph IV, a Hapsburg, claimed the title of Archduke of Austria.

The Cathedral in Krakow, Poland was consecrated and dedicated in memory of St. Stanislaus.

1360
The Peace of Calais stopped the fighting of the Hundred Years War at this time.

King Edward III renounced his claim to the French Throne and England was given all of Aquitaine.

In Lirey, in the Diocese of Troyes, the first reports of the Holy Shroud are heard. It was claimed that this Shroud is the actual clean linen cloth in which Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the Body of Jesus Christ. (See Matthew 28:59) The cloth is about thirteen and half feet long and four and half feet wide.

1362
Blessed Urban V becomes Pope. He was Cardinal Guillaume De Grimoard.

1363
St. Catherine of Sienna, at the age of sixteen, joins the Third Order of St. Dominic. She became noted for her gift of contemplation and her devotion to the poor.

1364
Charles V becomes King of France.

1367
St. Vincent Ferrer enters the Dominican Order.

1369
King Charles V of France renews the Hundred Years War with England.

1370
St. Bridget of Sweden receives Papal Confirmation of her Order of Bridgettine Sisters.

Gregory XI becomes Pope. He was 42 year old Cardinal Pierre Roger De Beaufort.

St. Vincent Ferrer teaches philosophy at Lerida; one of his pupils there was Pierre Fouloup, who became the Grand Inquisitor of Aragon.

1372
The Castillians ally with France and destroy the English fleet in the Bay of Biscay.

1373
St. Bridgett of Sweden criticizes the Avignon Papacy; she died later in this year.

St. Vincent Ferrer returns to Barcelona, and predicts the end of the famine that had plauged the area.

1374
Father Raymond of Capua became the spiritual director of St. Catherine of Sienna.

1376
St. Catherine of Sienna went to Avignon to plead with Pope Gregory XI on behalf of Florence, who was at war with the Papacy.

Death of Edward, the Prince of Wales, the Black Prince.

The fifteen year old son of Emperor Charles IV, Wenceslas was crowned King of the Romans.

1377
Death of King Edward III of England. Richard II is crowned King of England.

Pope Gregory XI returns the Papacy to Rome. He was influenced by St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Bridgett of Sweden.

St. Vincent Ferrer goes to Toulouse to continue his studies and make his famous phrase, "Study followed prayer, and prayer succeeded study."

1378
Death of Emperor Charles IV.

Urban VI becomes Pope. He was elected at the Conclave in Rome, the first to be held since 1303. He was Cardinal Bartolomeo Prignano, an Italian. He was the Archbishop of Bari. He also served as Papal Chancery under Pope Gregory XI. He was nominated by fifteen of the sixteen Cardinals. The people of Rome had demonstrated publicly, their desire for an Italian Pontiff.

1378-1417
The Great Schism. The next three Popes all claim to be Pope at the same time!

St. Catherine of Sienna went to Rome in November to rally support for Pope Urban VI. She remained in Rome until her death.

1379
Cardinal Pedro de Luna, the soon to be anti-Pope Benedict XIII retains St. Vincent Ferrer as legate of the Court of Avignon. St. Vincent won King Peter IV to the obedience of Avignon.

1380
Charles VI becomes King of France.

Death of St. Catherine of Sienna, virgin, Stigmatist, mystic, and Doctor of the Church.

1382
John Wycliff and his followers translate the Bible into English.

Marian Apparition. The Black Madonna. Legend says that St. Luke painted this on a table cloth that was used by the Carpenter, Jesus. It was recovered by St Helena, the mother of Constantine and brought back with her to Constantinople. The painting remained there for 500 years. In a dream, Prince Ladislaus of Opola transferred the famous painting to the Mount of Light (Jasna Gora) Poland.

The Lollard Heresy begins. The Lollards, Wycliff and his followers, held that the universe and God are one; that creation was an emanation of God. They believed in predestination; denied the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist; and held that the veneration of Sacred Images to be unlawful, and rejected the Episcopacy of the Church.

The Lollards are condemned by a Synod of twelve Theologians.

In Germany, the University of Heidelberg was founded under Pope Urban VI as a college of the Cistercian order.

1385-1390
St. Vincent Ferrer teaches theology in the Cathedral at Valencia, Spain.